You may or may not notice that this is a recipe is from a blog post I did several years ago. For about a year, I’ve been wanting to do spot checks on my blog posts to make sure the recipes were not only written correctly, but also whether I’d make any changes to them. I’m happy to report that this recipe still works and the only change I made to it was to add more sesame oil and sesame seeds to the waffles and optional hot sauce to the syrup. I also used my new air fryer for the first time with the chicken, and while I’m not changing the recipe to be specific to air fryers only, I’m happy to report that this recipe works out well in the air fryer too! The only thing you need to do for the air fryer recipe is to spritz some vegetable oil on each piece of chicken so that the potato starch looks a little gummy right before cooking it in the air fryer, which helps make them crispier!

chicken karaage (based on this recipe from Just Hungry)

ingredients

20 ounces boneless chicken thigh meat, cut into bite-sized pieces

minced ginger, about 1 Tablespoon

6 Tablespoons soy sauce

2 Tablespoons sake

1 cup potato starch

vegetable soil for frying

method

Combine the first four ingredients in a bowl to marinate for about 30 minutes. If you plan to marinate overnight, use only 2 Tablespoons of soy sauce, then add soy sauce the next day before frying.

Before frying, dredge each piece in the potato starch then fry until golden brown, which can take several minutes. I fried in batches up to eight pieces at a time. When done, drain pieces on a plate lined with a paper towel.

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umeboshi ginger maple Syrup

ingredients

1 cup maple syrup

2 tablespoons ginger syrup (If you don’t have this, substitute 2 tablespoons freshly grated ginger)

5 umeboshi plums, rinsed, seeds discarded

a glug or two of your favorite hot sauce, optional

method

Place all ingredients in a food processor and process until mixed thoroughly, about 30 seconds.

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black sesame waffles (adapted from this recipe)

ingredients

2 eggs, separated

2 cups milk

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup canola oil

1 teaspoon sesame oil

2 Tablespoons black sesame seeds

method

Preheat waffle iron. Place all ingredients except egg whites, in a bowl and mix or blend with a whisk or handheld mixer, being careful not to over mix. (If you prefer, you can leave out about half the black sesame seeds to be sprinkled into the batter on the tops of each waffle right before cooking in the waffle iron, to insure that black sesame seeds are visible and not all hidden in the batter.) In a separate bowl, using a clean whisk, or beaters, blend egg whites until stiff peaks form, then fold, one third at a time, into the other ingredients. Pour into waffle iron, per manufacturer’s directions, until golden brown on sides. Remove and serve.