Judgment – Wasabi Karaage

One of the new systems added to Judgment is the Friends mechanic. Yagami can go around town, meet unique NPCs, and eventually become close friends with them. One of the benefits of this friendship is their assistance if you run into trouble and get in a fight when they are nearby. My favorite person I’ve interacted with so far is Rie Tomioka, Yagami’s landlord. She runs into you near the Smile Burger asking about your late rent. She lets Yagami know that she one day hopes to open up her own izakaya with unique meal ideas. She tells Yagami that he can make it up to her for being late on rent by being a guinea pig for her new recipes. Every so often she will leave a new item in the refrigerator at your office. Yagami was excited about the prospect of free food at first, but the first recipe was awful. Yagami couldn’t eat it and honestly I don’t blame him. She combined a traditional Japanese curry and added tons of bitter melon. Fortunately for Yagami’s stomach, Rie improves her execution over time.

Karaage is one of Jeff’s favorite Japanese recipes for me to make. Whenever this snack shows up in a game, he quickly turns to me saying this is a recipe I should work on. Many of them are pretty standard and I’ll tell him to wait until we find something unique. Judgment did just that! Rie’s wasabi karaage is the first dish that Yagami actually enjoys from her experimenting. When I saw him pull it out of the refrigerator, I actually turned to Jeff and said “This is the one!” This recipe uses a lot of wasabi paste and powder. One note: after a bit of experimenting with this recipe, I found that the wasabi on the karaage actually cooked off a bit. It was a bit disappointing but the essence of wasabi is still there. Pairing it with my wasabi mayo dipping sauce is the perfect way to really get that punch of wasabi in your nose. Depending on your tolerance for wasabi spice, I do recommend adding small amounts of it to the mayo and tasting it as you go. I personally love it and the more wasabi, the better.

Wasabi Mayo Dipping Sauce Ingredients
½ cup japanese mayo
1-2 tbsp wasabi, depends how spicy you would like your sauce
2 tsp pepper
1 tbsp tonkatsu sauce
2 tsp rice vinegar

Combine all the ingredients in an airtight container. Can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

Wasabi Karaage Ingredients
2 lb chicken thighs, cut into bite sized pieces
⅓ cup soy sauce
3 tbsp sake
8 garlic cloves, grated
1 tbsp wasabi
1-inch piece of ginger, grated
1 tsp sugar
2 tsp salt
2 tsp pepper
1 cup potato starch
2 tbsp wasabi powder
1 tsp ground ginger
peanut oil
lime juice

Combine the soy sauce, sake, garlic, wasabi, ginger, sugar, salt, and pepper in a large sealable bag. Toss in the chicken thighs and mix together until fully coated. Allow to marinate in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour, up to 8 hours.

After the chicken has marinated, combine the potato starch, wasabi powder and ground ginger in a small bowl. Fill a deep heavy pot with 1 ½ inches of peanut-oil and heat to 325°F over medium-high.

Transfer the marinated chicken into a large bowl. Drain as much extra liquid as you can, it is okay if there is some there but we don’t want it soaking. Add the potato starch mixture and mix until all the chicken is covered. It will become pasty and look a bit patchy.

Once the oil has reached the desired temperature, carefully place a few pieces of chicken in the oil, making sure to not overcrowd the pot. Fry for 90 seconds. You will have to do this in several batches. Transfer to a plate covered with paper towels. Repeat with the remaining chicken.

After all the pieces have been cooked, increase the oil’s temperature to 350°F. Refry all the pieces of chicken for 60 seconds. Transfer to a plate covered with paper towels. Repeat with the remaining chicken. The second fry will make all the chicken extra crispy.

Print Recipe

Wasabi Karaage

Ingredients

Wasabi Mayo Dipping Sauce

• ½ cup japanese mayo
• 1-2 tbsp wasabi depends how spicy you would like your sauce
• 2 tsp pepper
• 1 tbsp tonkatsu sauce
• 2 tsp rice vinegar

Wasabi Karaage

• 2 lb chicken thighs cut into bite sized pieces
• ⅓ cup soy sauce
• 3 tbsp sake
• 8 garlic cloves grated
• 1 tbsp wasabi
• 1- inch piece of ginger grated
• 1 tsp sugar
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp pepper
• 1 cup potato starch
• 2 tbsp wasabi powder
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• peanut oil
• lime juice

Instructions

Wasabi Mayo Dipping Sauce

• Combine all the ingredients in an airtight container. Can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

Wasabi Karaage

• Combine the soy sauce, sake, garlic, wasabi, ginger, sugar, salt, and pepper in a large sealable bag. Toss in the chicken thighs and mix together until fully coated. Allow to marinate in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour, up to 8 hours.
• After the chicken has marinated, combine the potato starch, wasabi powder and ground ginger in a small bowl. Fill a deep heavy pot with 1 ½ inches of peanut-oil and heat to 325°F over medium-high.
• Transfer the marinated chicken into a large bowl. Drain as much extra liquid as you can, it is okay if there is some there but we don’t want it soaking. Add the potato starch mixture and mix until all the chicken is covered. It will become pasty and look a bit patchy.
• Once the oil has reached the desired temperature, carefully place a few pieces of chicken in the oil, making sure to not overcrowd the pot. Fry for 90 seconds. You will have to do this in several batches. Transfer to a plate covered with paper towels. Repeat with the remaining chicken.
• After all the pieces have been cooked, increase the oil’s temperature to 350°F. Refry all the pieces of chicken for 60 seconds. Transfer to a plate covered with paper towels. Repeat with the remaining chicken. The second fry will make all the chicken extra crispy.