Foodbuzz Review - Kikkoman Kara-Age Soy-Ginger Seasoned Coating Mix

I recently received a complimentary box of Kikkoman's Kara-Age Soy-Ginger seasoned coating mix to try out as part of a Foodbuzz Tastemaker program with Kikkoman.  I was pretty excited to get it because Japanese chicken kara-age has always been one of my favorite dishes.

For those of you that don't know much about kara-age, here's some background information courtesy of Foodbuzz:

"Kara-Age is a classic Japanese frying technique that involves marinating chicken in soy sauce with ginger, and dusting it in starch or flour before deep-frying.  It achieves a crispy, crunchy texture similar to western fried chicken".

I decided to go with a classic preparation using cut up chicken thighs.  I poured one package of the mix into a plastic bag (there are two packages in each box).  Then I moistened the cut up chicken with some water, then added the chicken pieces to the same bag.  Shake, shake, shake (WITH THE BAG CLOSED, haha) to coat all of the pieces evenly.  Then I pan-fried the coated chicken in a frying pan with vegetable oil until browned and cooked evenly.

And here we have the finished kara-age chicken with a side of steamed broccoli and cauliflower.  The kara-age mix had a very strong ginger and soy sauce smell, which I liked a lot.  It's nice to know that the label description holds true to its word.  The chicken itself was moist with a nice breading on it.  However, maybe due to pan-frying it, I didn't achieve that really crispy coating that is normal with chicken kara-age.  Maybe next time I'll try deep-frying the chicken with this coating and see how it goes.  Thanks Foodbuzz and Kikkoman for letting me try out this kara-age coating mix!