Chicken Nanban (Miyazaki-Style Fried Chicken in Sweet Vinegar with Tartar Sauce)

Name: Chicken Nanban (Miyazaki-Style Fried Chicken in Sweet Vinegar with Tartar Sauce)
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 2人分
Cuisine: Japanese
Ingredients: 1 chicken breast (or thigh), about 250 g; 1/4 tsp salt; A little pepper; 2 tbsp cake flour; 1 egg; Oil for deep-frying; [Nanban vinegar] 2 tbsp rice vinegar; [Nanban vinegar] 2 tbsp sugar; [Nanban vinegar] 1½ tbsp soy sauce; [Nanban vinegar] 2 tsp mirin; [Nanban vinegar] A little dried red chilli (sliced into rings); [Tartar sauce] 1 hard-boiled egg; [Tartar sauce] 1/8 onion (about 25 g); [Tartar sauce] 1/4 cucumber (or pickles), about 25 g; [Tartar sauce] 3 tbsp mayonnaise; [Tartar sauce] 1/2 tsp sugar; [Tartar sauce] 1/2 tsp lemon juice; A little salt and pepper (for the tartar sauce); Shredded cabbage and tomato, as needed

By Chef Cannon

Cuisine: Japanese

Region: 宮崎県

Servings: 2人分

Chicken Nanban (Miyazaki-Style Fried Chicken in Sweet Vinegar with Tartar Sauce) is a home-style meat dish. Ingredients and step-by-step instructions are below, with notes for home cooking.

Ingredients

1 chicken breast (or thigh), about 250 g
1/4 tsp salt
A little pepper
2 tbsp cake flour
1 egg
Oil for deep-frying
[Nanban vinegar] 2 tbsp rice vinegar
[Nanban vinegar] 2 tbsp sugar
[Nanban vinegar] 1½ tbsp soy sauce
[Nanban vinegar] 2 tsp mirin
[Nanban vinegar] A little dried red chilli (sliced into rings)
[Tartar sauce] 1 hard-boiled egg
[Tartar sauce] 1/8 onion (about 25 g)
[Tartar sauce] 1/4 cucumber (or pickles), about 25 g
[Tartar sauce] 3 tbsp mayonnaise
[Tartar sauce] 1/2 tsp sugar
[Tartar sauce] 1/2 tsp lemon juice
A little salt and pepper (for the tartar sauce)
Shredded cabbage and tomato, as needed

Steps

[Tartar sauce] Finely chop the onion and cucumber, sprinkle with a little salt, leave for 5 minutes and squeeze out the liquid firmly. Roughly chop the boiled egg. Mix everything with the mayonnaise, sugar and lemon juice, season with salt and pepper and chill.
[Nanban vinegar] Put the vinegar, sugar, soy sauce, mirin and chilli in a small pan over heat. When the sugar dissolves, turn off the heat and pour into a tray.
Butterfly the thick parts of the chicken so it is an even 1.5 cm thick. Slice on the diagonal into 2–3 pieces and season with salt and pepper.
Dust the chicken lightly all over with flour, then dip in well-beaten egg. Coating with flour first and then egg gives a fluffy coating that soaks up the nanban vinegar.
Heat the oil to 170 °C and fry the chicken for 3 minutes, then turn and fry for 2–3 minutes more, until the coating is pale golden and the chicken is cooked through.
While still piping hot, put the chicken into the tray of nanban vinegar and turn it for about 30 seconds so it absorbs the vinegar on both sides.
Cut into easy-to-eat pieces, arrange on plates with the cabbage and tomato, and spoon over plenty of tartar sauce.

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Notes

The Miyazaki way is a soft coating of beaten egg, not a dry flour coating like karaage. The sweet vinegar soaks in for a moist texture.

Breast gives a lighter result and thigh a juicier one; both are delicious.

The simple version without tartar sauce, eaten with just the nanban vinegar, has long been a local classic too.

It's also great on rice as a chicken nanban bowl or tucked into bread as a sandwich.

Origin and history

Chicken nanban is a local dish of Miyazaki Prefecture: chicken fried in an egg coating, dipped in sweet vinegar and served with tartar sauce.

It originated in the city of Nobeoka. It is said to have started in the late 1950s to early 1960s as a staff meal at a Western-style restaurant in the city, and at first it was something like fried chicken soaked in sweet vinegar. Later the current style, with tartar sauce and a side salad, took shape and its popularity soared; by the late 1960s and 1970s it had become a treat for family meals out. It then spread to school lunches and home tables, and today it can be found at almost any restaurant in the prefecture.

"Nanban" is a word for the Portuguese who arrived during the Warring States period and their culture. Among the dishes they introduced was nanbanzuke, ingredients marinated in sweet vinegar with chilli, and making it with chicken is said to be how chicken nanban got its name. Locally, two styles are loved: one with tartar sauce and one eaten with sweet vinegar alone.