How to Make Hawaii’s Best Fried Garlic Furikake Chicken

Crunchy-deep fried chicken dipped in a garlicy shoyu sauce and garnished with furikake seasoning.

Furikake chicken is one of a kind! That crunchy and juicy bite while smothered in a garlicy shoyu sauce is to die for! I like to believe that furikake chicken is one of the best chicken dishes that Hawaii has made. It is a mixture of many cultures made into one dish that is truly of Hawaii. The scoop of rice on the side, the classic mac salad on the side, and the sweet and savory shoyu sauce to dip the chicken into. And of course sprinkled on top is the furikake seasoning!

Furikake seasoning

What is furikake? Some may not have heard of this wonderful seasoning because they never had the chance to be introduced to it. Furikake is a savory seasoning packed with umami flavors perfect to bring a bland dish to life. It is a Japanese condiment that consists of nori, toasted sesame seeds, salt, and sugar. There are a wide variety of furikake seasonings that would also flavor it with bonito flakes, wasabi, miso powder, etc. You can get your hands on furikake in any asian market, Trader Joes, and online.

Uses for furikake seasoning:

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• Rice
• Onigiri
• Musubi
• Eggs
• Vegetables
• Fish
• Popcorn (Hurricane Popcorn!! P.S. I will come up with a recipe for it in the future.)

Brining and dredging

Brining the chicken may seem like an added an unnecessary step for this recipe, but let me tell you…it makes this dish so much better! Not only does it preserve the chicken longer, but it makes the chicken juicer, tender, and a nice subtle salty flavor. Have you ever had your chicken dry out on you? To remedy that problem is to brine the chicken. The salt helps the chicken retain the moisture by breaking down the protein. When the chicken is cooked it shrinks and loses its liquids.

When testing out the best method to dredge the chicken, I omitted using the furikake seasoning as part of the mixture for the flour. Why? Simply because when I added the chicken to the oil and continue the rest of frying the chicken, the particles from the furikake would fall off of the chicken when it fried. This meant the leftover furikake would continuously fry in the oil over time which in the end there would be burnt particles floating in the oil. I would hate for anyone to bite into the chicken with a burnt furikake particle attached. Not the best experience. So, instead I concluded to just garnish the chicken with the furikake to have the most optimal taste.

Frying

Frying may be a daunting task to do. Oil spattering, big mess, and the danger to getting burned. Don’t let that be a downer because frying can be the most satisfying and onolicious treat you can whip up. Be sure to keep the oil temperature around 350°F. I know the temperature will fluctuate, but it is the best temperature to fry the chicken. It is not too hot where it will fry the chicken to oblivion. It is not too low where the chicken where take forever to fry and the chicken instead will soak up the oil. It is the perfect temperature to thoroughly cook the chicken and enough to get that nice crunchy golden batter. This is the key to frying a good chicken.

Video Tutorial

Check out this video to help you gain more insight on how to make Garlic Furikake Chicken and how to clean the squid. Also, subscribe to my YouTube to help support me so I can continue making more of these contents. Mahalo!

Garlic Furikake Chicken

Crunchy and moist chicken that is dipped into a broke da mout garlic-shoyu based sauce then garnished in furikake seasoning.

Print Recipe

Prep Time:1 day d 45 minutes mins

Cook Time:45 minutes mins

Total Time:1 day d 1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Equipment

• Fryer

Ingredients

• 2-3 lb bite-sized boneless & skinless chicken thighs
• oil for frying
• 5 whisked eggs
• furikake seasoning for garnishing

Chicken Brine:

• 2 cups water
• 1/4 cup shoyu (soy sauce)
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1/2 tbsp salt
• 1 tbsp lime juice
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 1 tbsp Sriracha

Flour Dredge (may need to increase depending on how much chicken is used)

• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp salt

Garlic Furikake Shoyu Sauce

• 1 cup shoyu (soy sauce)
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 5 cloves minced garlic
• 1/4 tsp minced ginger
• 1/2 tsp white pepper
• 1/2 tbsp furikake seasoning

Instructions

Chicken brine:

• This part is optional to do but it does give the chicken a juicer taste if done. First, Mix together in a large bowl the water, shoyu, salt, sugar, lime juice, garlic, and sriracha. Add in the chicken and make sure it is covered in the brine.
• Cover the bowl and let it soak for at least 2 hours and at best 24 hours.

Dredging the chicken:

• To make the flour dredge, season the flour with garlic powder, salt, and pepper in a medium sized bowl. Whisk it well to combine. Set aside.
• Drain the chicken from the brine when it has finished soaking. Pat dry the chicken on a paper towel, dredge the chicken in the flour seasoning, coat the floured chicken in the eggs, and dredge the chicken again in the flour. Set the floured chicken on a separate plate. Continue this process until all chickens have been dredged.

Frying:

• Heat enough oil to fry the chicken at 350°F. Carefully drop in the chicken pieces one by one. Let it fry for about 3-5 minutes or until the chicken is golden brown.
• Set cooked chicken aside wire rack or plate lined with paper towels.

Garlic Shoyu Sauce:

• Combine shoyu, brown sugar, white sugar, garlic, ginger, white pepper, and furikake seasoning.
• Heat the sauce in a pot over medium heat. Let it come to a boil and bring it down to a simmer for a few minutes. Turn off the heat and add in the green onions.
• Dip the chicken into the sauce and serve. Or serve the sauce in a side bowl to dip the chicken leisurely. Enjoy!

Servings: 6