Chicken Nanban with Japanese-Style Tartar Sauce

So I was digging up research on Japanese-style tartar sauce for the new cookbook I'm working on with Tadashi, when I came across this dish. Yep, cookbooks are a little like childbirth -- wait a while and you forget the pain, and want to do it all over again! This time, Tadashi and I are working on our biggest, baddest project yet, a book devoted to Japanese soul food, and the family run joints across Japan lovingly serving it, especially old Showa-era restaurants still going strong today. (Hey, by the way, if you have suggestions of favorite soul food holes-in-the-wall in Japan to recommend, please let me know in the comments, and Tadashi and I will try to visit. Ramen, curry, tonkatsu -- it's all good!) The dish in the photo was originally conceived at a family style restaurant called Ogura located in the southern city of Miyazaki (great town), and has since become popular all over the country. Nanbanzuke is a pickling technique, traditionally for fish, where you first fry the fish, then marinate it in a sweet-savory vinegar (amazu). Here, this method has been adapted to chicken breast, with dallop of Japanese tartar sauce added for extra oomph. So what makes Japanese tartar sauce "Japanese?" I think (and feel free to weigh in here) that in the Japan version a hardboiled egg is added to tartar sauce, which isn't typically done in, say, America. In any case the tartar sauce I will describe shortly is wonderful, and not just for this dish. And the chicken breast, deep fried in a simple flour and egg coating, then dipped in the vinegar, is juicy, flavorful and delicious (and great for lunch the next day, too). Give it a try, especially if you've got kids. Here are the recipes:

Japanese-style tartar sauce

1/2 ounces finely chopped onions
Salt
2 hard boiled eggs, peeled and finely chopped
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
1/2 ounces finely chopped gherkins (cornichons)
2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
Juice from 1/2 lemon
Freshly cracked black pepper

If you can, make this tartar sauce a day or two ahead of time, to give the flavors a chance to leisurely mingle. Place the onions and a pinch of salt in a cheesecloth or thin towel (or Japanese sarashi), fold the cloth over the onions and squeeze the onions to expel the slime and sharpness. Place the onions under cold running water, then squeeze again to dry. Once the onions are ready, add them and the eggs, mayonnaise, gherkins, parsley, lemon and black pepper to a bowl and mix until well combined. Keep in the fridge until you're ready to use.

Nanban vinegar mixture

1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon Japanese rice vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup sugar
1 Japanese chili (optional)

Combine the vinegar, soy sauce, sugar and chili in a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat to the lowest setting to keep the vinegar warm while you prepare the chicken.

Chicken nanban

4 filets of chicken breast, flattened with the back of a heavy knife
Salt and pepper
Flour
1 beaten egg
Vegetable oil for deep frying

Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Prepare a deep fying station: Set up 1 plate with flour, 1 bowl with the beaten egg, and a vessel for deep frying on your burner. I like to use a cast-iron skillet filled with about 1 inch of oil. Heat the oil to about 360 degrees F (or 180 degrees C). I use a deep fry thermometer to gauge oil temperature. When the oil is ready, dredge the fillets in flour, shake off excess flour, then dip in the egg, shaking off excess egg. Carefully slide the fillet into the hot oil. Deep fry in batches, if necessary, depending on the size of your skillet. Cook for about 8 minutes, turning once. When the fillets are golden brown and cooked through, transfer them to a newspaper lined sheet to absorb excess oil. Then using chopsticks or tongs, dip the fillet into the warm vinegar mixture, making sure to coat both sides. Transfer to a cutting board, slice the fillets, and serve hot with the tartar sauce on the side. Enjoy!

One note -- you'll see in the photo that there are some thin-sliced onions and carrots on the plate. That's a traditional complement to nanbanzuke with fish, but I like it here, too. Add the onions and carrots right after the vinegar mixture has boiled and let them marinate until you're ready to serve the chicken.

Posted by Harris Salat in Chicken | Permalink | Comments (9) | Email | Print

Comments (9)

Harris - great post as always! Can you explain a bit more about what qualifies as Showa period food. Would it simply be western or foreign influenced 20th century fare? Or is it more like contemporary washoku? Just never heard the reference before. Thanks for this and the JFR!

Marco Ajello | Posted 14:18 01 November 2011

You probably know about this already, but did you try the food at the little shops around the train station? In Shinjuku, they are hole-in-the-walls sort of underneath the train tracks -- I think it's called shoben yokocho (but don't quote me on it ..)

Elli | Posted 22:56 01 November 2011

I cannot wait for the new cookbook. That is the least understood form of Japanese food outside of Japan. I always like when people are surprised that they actually fry chicken in Japan. You guys continue to make the cookbooks that are seriously needed for Japanese Food.

Ian | Posted 14:35 02 November 2011

I used the grilling book all summer, and now it's time to go back to hot pots. I'm looking forward to the new one!

David in San Antonio | Posted 16:32 02 November 2011

Hey Harris! I live in Kyoto, and here one of my favorite soul food restaurant is Warajitei close to the nishioji-sanjo station nakagyo-ku kyoto, the serve Obansai ryori, run by an elderly woman. It is fantsatic!

Johan K | Posted 23:34 05 November 2011

Okonomiyaki! I'd also love it if you included recipes for Japanese breads/pastries!

hakyung | Posted 17:57 06 November 2011

I would like to +1 for Waraji Tei. I've made a point to go there every time I visit Kyoto.

Marco | Posted 19:06 13 November 2011

Hello My name is Ueda. I run a japanese restaurant in Denmark called Kyoto. We do Teppan-yaki and sushi, sashimi, tenpura, sushi-kaiseki, yakitori, teriyaki, hotpots like sukiyaki, shabu shabu and all kinds of stuff that westerners know and like. But this chicken Nanban might be a good idea to implement. Thanks.

Kaiseki | Posted 09:18 30 November 2011

Just a clarification for your cook book. You are correct that Chicken Nanban was created at Ogura, however, it is located in Nobeoka, which is in northern Miyazaki-ken.

Matthew | Posted 23:55 28 December 2011

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