Trader Joe’s Japanese-Inspired Chicken KARAAGE: What’s the Big Deal?
Ever find yourself staring blankly at your freezer at 6pm wondering what culinary magic you can conjure up before the hangry monsters (aka your family) revolt? Enter Trader Joe’s latest frozen food hero: Chicken KARAAGE! This newcomer joins the freezer section’s greatest hits lineup alongside Orange Chicken, Teriyaki Chicken, and those trusty chicken nuggets. But what exactly IS karaage? It’s essentially Japanese-style fried chicken that’s about to become your new weeknight BFF (Budget-Friendly Food)! Not kosher or gluten-free, and definitely not vegan (it’s chicken, after all), but for the omnivores among us… jackpot!
Where was Trader Joe’s when I was surviving on ramen and desperation in my 20s?! If these culinary treasures had existed during my college days, my sad little studio apartment would’ve been bursting with empty Trader Joe’s bags (and I’d have been the most popular host for impromptu dinner parties). This is exactly why we keep returning to TJ’s like it’s some sort of affordable food theme park. Who else has the AUDACITY to make frozen Chicken Karaage that doesn’t require a second mortgage to purchase? Absolutely nobody! Mark my words: within months, every grocery chain will be scrambling to create their knockoff version. But we know who did it first, don’t we? Now, let’s dive fork-first into this Trader Joe’s Chicken Karaage review!
What is Chicken Karaage?
I wouldn’t call myself a Chicken Karaage expert, but my son is almost fluent in Japanese and we visited Tokyo last summer to visit him when he was studying at a university there. I ate a lot of Karaage when we were there. So, I think I can tell decent Karaage when I have it.
Let’s back up a bit… what in the world is Chicken Karaage? The Japanese translation is Tori No Karaage, which literally means “fried chicken”. Traditionally, Chicken Karaage comes in a variety of preparations but usually, it’s chicken thigh chunks marinated in mirin, sake, ginger, garlic, and soy sauce (Trader Joe’s uses white wine vinegar). Then coated in wheat flour and potato starch coating and deep fried in a neutral oil like canola or sunflower oil. Trader Joe’s deviates from the traditional by using corn meal but you probably can’t tell the difference.
To serve Chicken Karaage, usually, you have a slice of lemon to squeeze on the chicken and some Japanese style mayonnaise to dip. Some people will sprinkle Togarishi (finely ground hot pepper flakes) or Furikake flakes (you can use the Trader Joe’s Furikake here) on the chicken pieces. Finish it off with a sprinkling of flaked salt.
You can serve it with rice or whatever you want. This is meant to be a quick and easy meal so keeping it simple is probably the best. There are plenty of recipes out there and it’s quite easy to make at home but why bother when you can buy it frozen from Trader Joe’s?!?!?
How to Prepare Trader Joe’s Chicken Karaage
Trader Joe’s lists three ways to prepare these: Microwave, Oven, and Air Fryer (convection oven). I think most of you have been around here long enough to know that we always go for the Air Fryer for these deep-fried foods. I would not try to deep fry these again.
Here are the recommended times from Trader Joe’s:
COOKING INSTRUCTIONS:
COOK FROM FROZEN
CONVENTIONAL OVEN:
Preheat oven to 450f. Place chicken in a single layer on a lined baking sheet and cook on the center rack of the oven for 18 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 165f.
AIR FRYER:
Preheat the air fryer to 390f. Place chicken inside the air fryer basket in a single layer. Cook chicken for 16 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 165f.
(There are no microwave directions and I don’t recommend it because it will just turn the breading on the chicken to mush).
The bag comes with a smaller bag of frozen “dipping sauce” that looks and tastes suspiciously like Kewpie style Japanese mayonnaise which is everywhere in Japan. It won’t thaw in the time you put the chicken in the oven so you need to put it into a bath of warm water to thaw it before you serve it with the chicken.
Trader Joe’s Chicken Karaage Taste Test
Of all the chicken nugget foods that Trader Joe’s sells right now, these are by far the best I have had from them. I’ve had authentic Chicken Karaage at several Japanese restaurants when we visited Japan last summer and there is nothing like freshly prepared deep fried chicken done this way. The Trader Joe’s Chicken Karaage is a good substitute, not quite on par with fresh made but in a pinch I’ll take it. If I compare it to Trader Joe’s Orange Chicken, this beats it hands down.
The breading on the chicken is light and fluffy and when done in an air fryer it comes out really crisp. Trader Joe’s really nailed it down on this one. You can taste the seasoning on the chicken and in the coating. Served with a lemon, which cuts through the density of the frying kind of like fish and chips, this is very good and the dipping sauce makes these wonderful.
My only regret is that Trader Joe’s didn’t have these when my kids were little because we would’ve had several bags on hand at any given time. I remember those old reconstituted chicken nuggest that Trader Joe’s used to sell and the Chicken Karaage is light years ahead of it.
These are easy to make your own with your own sauces or hot sauce or whatever you want. Hell go out and get some Franks Buffalo Wings sauce and toss those suckers up in that for fake boneless buffalo wings! But I think the key to this is either a convection oven or air fryer and you are golden!
I am going to rate these a very high 9 out of 10 Bells!
Ingredients
CRISPY SEASONED CHICKEN (BONELESS SKINLESS CHICKEN LEG MEAT, WATER, SOYBEAN OIL, WHEAT FLOUR, CORNSTARCH, MODIFIED TAPIOCA STARCH, CORN MEAL, SEA SALT, SUGAR, SOY PROTEIN CONCENTRATE (SOY PROTEIN CONCENTRATE, SOY LECITHIN), NATURAL FLAVORS, YEAST EXTRACT, SALTED MIRIN [SAKE {WATER, RICE, KOJI (ASPERGILLUS ORYZAE)}, SUGAR, WATER, SALT, YEAST EXTRACT], SOY SAUCE [WATER, SOYBEANS, WHEAT, SALT], WHITE WINE VINEGAR, SODIUM BICARBONATE, GARLIC POWDER, GINGER POWDER, BLACK PEPPER, EGGS, ROSEMARY POWDER), SAUCE (WATER, CANOLA OIL, SALTED EGG YOLK [EGG YOLKS, SALT], MODIFIED FOOD STARCH, RICE VINEGAR, MALT VINEGAR, SALT, TOMATO CONCENTRATE, SUGAR, ENZYME MODIFIED EGG YOLK [EGG YOLKS, PHOSPHOLIPASE], GUM ARABIC, SPICE, YEAST, GARLIC POWDER, XANTHAN GUM).
Funny how chicken kaarage literally translates to chicken fried chicken..
It’s really quite average. Very bland chicken covered by too much batter served up a 99% mayonnaise dipping sauce that might have some lemon in it. I would honestly rather have chicken mcnuggets and whatever dipping sauces those might come with these days. If you are blown away by the TJ orange chicken, you’ll probably like this.
Have you ever had Chicken Karaage? I’ve been eating it for a good 40 years. This tasted nothing like it. The only thing this had in its favor was that it was crunchy. It tasted and felt like processed chicken. I’ve had nuggets that were better. They should’ve left the bone in. The included mayo sauce was equally forgettable. I’m glad I only bought 1 bag.
Where’s the chicken? Most of the pieces had a thick coat of breading and not much chicken. The breading, in addition to being thick, was dry and tasteless as was the chicken. The “savory” dipping sauce looked and tasted like mayonnaise with some mustard and lemon juice mixed into it. Hardly what I would expect to be served as part of a Japanese meal.
2 stars out of 5 with a recommendation to not buy this product.