Karaage, Japanese fried chicken. Karaage is everywhere in Japan; at festivals, convenience stores, izakayas, and restaurants. I am sure you love karaage as much as I do but I am picky with my karaage. I stay away from convenience store karaage because it is just way to oily. One time, I bit into the Family Chicken from Family Mart, and no joke, the chicken squirted out oil from the side of my mouth and hit the wall behind me. There are shops all around Ibaraki that only specialize in karaage. My go to karaage place is Karaage Senmon Terada Store.
Karaaage Senmon Terada Store
This place has a long name so I am just going to call it Karaage Terada from here on out. Karaage Terada has quite a different number of locations around Ibaraki. To name a few, Hitachi Naka, Mito, Kandatsu, Ishioka, Ryugasaki and a few other places around Ibaraki. My favorite one to go to is in the Inashiki district of Ami town. It is pretty close to Ibaraki University in that area.
I should mention that this place is take out only. There is no dining in. Another thing I should mention is, once you make your order you have to wait outside. Before covid, you were able to wait inside the shop and watch Japanese television. But now, the staff gives you a beeper and politely asks you to wait in your car. Once the beeper goes off, you can come in and grab your karaage.
The Menu
You have a bunch of different types and flavors to choose from at Karaage Terada. At the top of the menu and Karaage Terada's number one karaage is Kiyohara soy sauce karaage. To the right you have the Sweet Sauce Karaage. The red looking karaage is Red Pickled Ginger Karaage. Finally, next to the ginger karaage you have the Salt Flavored Karaage. All of the top karaage is chicken breast. The bottom of the menu consists of chicken wings and bigger pieces of fried chicken.
There is an option to get a family pack which brings all the karaage flavors from the top part of the menu. That is what I usually order and what I am going to talk about today.
Our Karaage Bounty
The day I got this delicious looking karaage family pack, my wife had just gotten her corona vaccine in Ami town and was extremely happy about my dinner choice. Side note, get vaccinated. Anyway, she couldn't wait to dig in and neither could I. We went from right to left on this family pack.
If you are not a fan of ginger, then I don't suggest ordering the red pickled ginger karaage. It doesn't have an overwhelming taste of ginger but it is in there. My wife and I love ginger so this was a great karaage too have that night. I really liked it and got a small crunch of ginger with juicy chicken when I bit into it.
Next to that was the salt flavored karaage. Unfortunately, this was my least favorite one of the bunch. The salt was basically no existent and the chicken tasted kind of dry.
Next to that was the number one Kiyohara soy sauce karaage. This crispy and delicious karaage was excellent. I could tell why it was number one. The tender chicken with that crispy skin was perfect. I really liked this karaage and couldn't wait to order more when I was in Ami town again.
Finally, we had the sweet sauce karaage. A bit of a warning when you pick up this karaage, make sure you have a napkin. The sauce dripped onto my shirt which made me do laundry in the morning. This chicken was fantastic. So juicy, and the sweet sauce was great. A bit heavy on the sweetness but I still loved it.
Out of all the different flavors I had, I have to say I loved the Kiyohara soy sauce karaage the most. It was so nice and crispy on the outside and so delicious and juicy on the inside. What more can I ask for from karaage? My wife was a big fan of the sweet sauce karaage. She ate it with grace and dignity, while Mr. No Manners here got some sauce on his shirt.
Karaage Always Goes with Beer
What always goes well with karaage? Beer of course. I got my special Sapporo beer, which I buy at CO-OP, and enjoyed the nice cool refreshing Sapporo magic with Karaage Terada's amazing karaage. Match made in heaven.
Delicious
Karaage Terada is by far my favorite karaage place in Ibaraki. I will continue ordering take out from them and enjoying their delicious juicy karaage. I will see you soon Karaage Terada, most likely next week.
So if you are in the mood for some Japanese fried chicken and are in Ami Town, why not give Karaage Terada a chance. Who knows, you might see me there, lost in thought about how many pieces of karaage I should order.
Enjoy!
For more information on Karaage Senmon Terada Store, check out their website:
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