Japanese Holiday Fried Chicken

Christmas in Japan is extra festive, especially for a nation without a centuries-long tradition of celebrating. There are millions of holiday lights, full-on Christmas markets, and so many decorations. There are ads for the classic Japanese red and white strawberry shortcake Christmas cakes and of course, for fried chicken. 

If you’re ever in Japan around Christmas time, you’re bound to see multiple ads featuring a jolly, bearded man. He’s not Santa though, we’re talking about the iconic Colonel Sanders. Christmas in Japan is synonymous with fried chicken, and in particular with KFC.

Why is fried chicken Christmas food in Japan?

In Japan, Christmas is for eating chicken - specifically, a bucket of fried chicken. Christmas isn’t a religious holiday in Japan but more of a secular celebration. Back in the 70s and 80s, the Japanese emulated American culture by adopting certain American traditions. One of these was Christmas, including the idea of a large, luxurious, festive family meal. 

Turkey is not a protein you’ll find commonly in Japan, not even in the metropolitan Tokyo area. 

Even whole chickens are considered a specialty cut of meat. In addition, home kitchens tend to be super small in Japan, so if you wanted to have a large-format meal, fried chicken was the natural alternative.

Ever since the late 1970s, Colonel Sanders - dressed as Santa Claus - has been enticing everyone to enjoy a meal of fried chicken at Christmas. Fried chicken at Christmas time in Japan is so popular that you have to preorder your fried chicken bucket and arrange for a certain time slot to pick it up. For many Japanese, Christmas isn’t Christmas without fried chicken.

Bachan’s Christmas Fried Chicken

This fried chicken is crispy, crunchy, extra juicy, and super flavorful thanks to Bachan’s Original Japanese Barbecue Sauce. No matter where you get it,  fried chicken in Japan tends to be on the sweeter side compared to American fried chicken. An overnight brine in buttermilk and Bachan’s Original Japanese Barbecue Sauce is the secret to perfectly seasoned Japanese-style fried chicken that bursts with umami juiciness.

Brining is the secret to good fried chicken

Brining often seems like an extra unnecessary step, but the truth is, brining is what makes fried chicken juicy. Brining chicken keeps it incredibly moist while adding flavor. The salt in the brine helps break down the proteins in the chicken, which leads to less shrinkage when being cooked, which leads to juicier chicken. 

How to brine chicken

Brining chicken is simple. All you need to do is combine a liquid and salt. In this case, we’re going to use buttermilk - the slight acidity of the buttermilk will help break down the chicken protein. Along with the buttermilk, we’ll add a generous amount of Bachan’s Original Japanese Barbecue Sauce to introduce our signature Japanese flavor. You get the umami of traditionally brewed soy sauce, the acidity of organic rice vinegar, the sweetness of aged Japanese mirin, and the fresh flavors of garlic, ginger, and green onions in one simple bottle. 

How to make fried chicken

1. Brine - place your chicken drumsticks and thighs to a container with a lid. Add buttermilk, Bachan’s Original Japanese Barbecue Sauce, crushed cloves of garlic, peppercorns, and bay leaves. Make sure the chicken is submerged and let brine overnight in the fridge.

2. Bread - once the chicken is brined, it’s time to bread the chicken in flour. Make a flour mix in a shallow dish by mixing together flour, cornstarch, baking powder, salt, pepper, garlic powder and onion powder. Piece by piece, remove the chicken from the brine and coat it in the flour, pressing to coat. When the chicken is coated, let it rest on a baking sheet or plate. The rest will hydrate the breading mix which will make it fry up crisper.

3. Fry - once all the pieces of chicken have been coated, add at least 3 inches of high-heat oil to a deep, heavy-bottomed pot. Heat the oil over medium-high to 350°F. Add the chicken in batches, flipping as needed, until golden, crunchy, and cooked through. The internal temperature of the chicken should reach 165°F near the bone. As you remove the chicken from the oil, drain the cooked pieces on a wire rack and keep them warm in a low oven.

4. Enjoy and dip - once all the pieces are cooked, it’s time to eat. Enjoy with Bachan’s Original Japanese Dipping Sauce.

How to make extra crispy fried chicken

The key to crispy fried chicken is all in the flour mix you coat your chicken with before frying. For this recipe, we use a combination of all-purpose flour, cornstarch, and baking powder. The bulk of the mix is all-purpose flour. Adding cornstarch to the flour helps prevent the flour’s gluten development, making the flour less chewy, which makes the final product crispier. Adding baking powder to the mix also helps with crisping through a different method: when baking powder, which is a leavening agent, is heated up by hot oil it releases little bubbles. The little bubbles in the coating give the fried chicken a light airy, extra crispy, crunchy texture.

Sides

Even though fried chicken is a meal unto itself, a real Christmas dinner needs sides. Serve this fried chicken with crispy roast potatoes, honey butter buns, and our famous yuzu holiday salad for some extra festive Japanese Christmas feels.

Yuzu Holiday Salad
Crispy Roasted Potatoes