Deconstructed Chicken Nanban

Chicken nanban is a popular dish with a tasty tartar sauce from the Kyushu Island. It’s a relatively easy recipe with lots of things that I usually have ready in my pantry and freezer. The tartar sauce to me is almost like deviled eggs in sauce form.

The only reason this is “deconstructed” is because when I was making it for lunch today, the kids and the husband were at the dojo and I wanted to make sure the chicken stayed crispy by the time they got back (ETA wasn’t super clear.) If you make it the normal way, you would dunk the fried chicken in the nanban sauce immediately so it soaks up the sauce in the breading, and then pour the tartar sauce over it.

You can use a sweet or sour pickle for the tartar sauce. I happen to have sweet on hand (and in that case don’t add sugar to the tartar sauce.)

The pepper for the nanban sauce is from my garden that I strung up and dried, as is the parsley for garnish. Even though we’re now approaching winter, some things like my parsley and cilantro are still going strong. I love being able to just go downstairs and grab what I need!

Ingredients for Nanban Sauce

• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons mirin
• 1 piece of red pepper
• Pinch of sugar, to taste

1. Combine all the sauce ingredients and allow to sit while frying the chicken and making the tartar sauce.

Ingredients for Tartar Sauce

• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons minced sweet or sour dill pickles (or fresh cucumber)
• 1 tablespoon diced white onion
• 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
• 1 hardboiled egg, chopped
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Pinch of sugar (if using a sour pickle)
• Shredded cabbage (optional)
• Parsley for garnish (optional)

1. Combine all the ingredients and allow to sit while chicken is frying.

Ingredients for Chicken

• 1lb chicken thigh, cut into bite sized pieces pounded with a meat tenderizer
• 1 tablespoon sake
• Pinch of salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup corn/potato starch, 1/2 cup all purpose flour (can use all flour or all starch too)
• 1 egg, beaten
• Corn, vegetable, peanut, or canola oil for frying
• Optional: Ginger paste or garlic paste

1. Combine sake, salt, and pepper with the chicken thigh pieces and allow to marinate for a few minutes.
2. Coat with flour/starch mixture
3. Heat oil for frying over medium high heat until dropping a small bit of flour in makes a lot of tiny bubbles.
4. Take the chicken pieces, dip in the beaten egg, and fry until golden on all sides and cooked through.
5. Drain on paper towel.
6. To make normal chicken nanban, dunk the fried chicken pieces into the nanban sauce, top with tartar sauce, and serve with a side salad and hot white rice.
7. To make a deconstructed chicken nanban, keep the nanban sauce for dipping, pour tartar sauce over shredded cabbage, and serve with hot white rice.