Mandrake Kakiage and Big Bat Tempura

Hey, Dungeon Meshi Maniacs. I have to admit, the past few weeks have been rough.  Even us lowly dungeon slimes know that things are dark.  We don't know what the future holds which can be scary! But I can say this, when things look their bleakest that's when you need to crank the oil up and fry the heck outta something!  That's right, DMMs, this week is all about the greatest way to cook anything...DEEP FRYING!

And not just one deeping frying dish.  No, my friends, we are deep frying TWO dishes!

Kakiage and tempura, eh?  This will be a first for me with kakiage which will be exciting but let's start with the second dish. The tempura.  I'm calling an audible.  Two reasons: A. I am NOT COOKING BAT!  Do not...DO NOT EAT WILD BAT IN NORTH AMERICA.  It's just not safe.  Luckily the giant bat meat in Dungeon Meshi looks weirdly like chicken meat.  So chicken will be a good stand in.  B. I'm not a fan of chicken tempura. Too boring. No, I'm going to be making the highest form of fried chicken.  The emperor form of fried chicken in fact. Karaage! Fun fact: Tempura is Japanese for "Get the Karaage." It's true! You can trust me. I went to Japan....once....over twenty years ago.

What's the first thing you need to deep fry?  Heat?  I mean...sure...that's what you need but I'm thinking more oil to fry in!  What does Senshi use in this chapter?

Olive oil, huh?  Olive is pretty good but it has a very low smoke point compared to other oils.  Given how  much frying we plan on doing I'm going to use something that can take a beating.  The pride of President Carter...Peanut Oil!

I love frying with peanut oil.  It's pretty neutral flavorwise and the smoke point is a pretty high 450 degrees.  It can take a beating and we are going to need it for fry both veggies and chicken.  As much fun as it would be to just drop whole chicken into the hot oil we have to first prepare.  For karaage the best cut is chicken thigh WITH skin!  The skin makes the karaage crisp. Problem is in the good ol' USA it's hard to get chicken thighs with skin but without bones. Hilariously, the giant bat that Senshi finds seems to be boneless!

What a convenient monster!  We, however, have to debone the thighs. There's no good way to say this...you're going to have and do this by hand.  Just take a knife and get it as close to the bone as possible.

Beautiful and gross.  Just cut as close around it as you can.  Keep sawing until you can pop it out.  Once the bone is out then you can chop it up into bite sized pieces.

For good karaage you now need to marinate for about 30 minutes.  Here's what I use.

Some use sake instead of rice vinegar but I never keep it on hand.  I'm a sake wimp!  You just need a few tablespoons to rice vinegar, soy sauce and sesame oil.  Grate as much ginger as you want and chope as many bulbs of garlic that you deem necessary.  I'm not here to tell you how to cook.  Now, mix the chicken with the marinade in a bowl, cover and throw in the fridge for 30 minutes!

Ain't that the truth!  With the chicken sitting pretty let's turn to the main event

Having never made kakiage before I had to learn that it's basically a nice vegetable fritter.  YUM!  Let's get a problem out of the way.  I know this is titled "Mandrake Kakiage" and I know that I use Yuca Root as a mandrake stand in last time but I did not use yuca this time.  Why?  I did not know how fussy the root was!  It spoils so quickly that I didn't have time to fry it. So I got the dream team of fryable veggies!

Sweet potato, onion and carrot!  The best around when it comes to frying deeply.  After chopping the chicken this part is a breeze.  You just slice the veggies as thinly as you can get them.

Easy peasy!  But you can't just throw veggies into hot oil and hope they turn into a fritter. I mean...you can..I'm just saying it will go better with a batter.  Luckily the batter is pretty simple.

Welcome back, rice vinegar!  I missed you.  The trick to crispy kakiage is keep that batter COLD.  The colder the better!  Start by mixing the flour with equal parts freezing water. Basically, if you use half a cup of flour then use half a cup to just below ice water.  Mix in the egg, a little bit of baking powder and a tablespoon of rice vinegar or sake.

"What's going on below that bowl, Nih? You holding out great cooking tips on my, you contemptable jerk?"  Yikes...you doing okay there?  It's a larger bowl of ice water!  Like I said you want to keep that batter as cold as possible for max crispiness.  That little blue thing is a cold pack because I don't have an ice maker.  What?  I never hooked it up. No biggie.  Next, dust the veggies with two or so tablespoons of cornstarch.

And add the batter!

Gloopy!  What's the best temp for frying this stuff up, Senshi?

Remember, the magic land Senshi dwells uses something called the Met-Rick Sisteem...I hope I'm saying that right.  In the "real world" you want that oil to be around 350 degrees. Finally....FINALLY we can start frying!

You just scoop out fritter sized pieces and lay them in.  Chilchuck has the right idea, three at a time works best.

I had pretty good luck cooking them about a minute, flip and cook another minute. Take them out and put them on deep fried food's best friend...the mighty paper towel!

Delicious....out of dungeon! I said it, I have no regrets. Now onto the karaage!  Thankfully it is so straight forward at this point.  You dreg the pieces first in cornstarch, then in flour.

Keep that oil at 350 and fry these puppies roughly a minute, minute and a half.  You're frying for color so when it hits that golden brown you're done.

One of my favorite sights, smells and sounds.  So happy this chapter let me fry these beauties.

Fried veggies and fried chicken!  Both turned out great! I loved the crispiness of the kakiage.  An amazing blend of vegetable flavors.  The karaage? Fantastic!

Friends...I have a confession to make.  I'm not the young eating dynamo that I make myself out to be.  One hour after eating all this fried food (and a side of rice) I started having issues. Just couldn't move. Everything was pain, my dancing had turned to sorrow. My tummy have revolted against me!

I can no longer eat fried foods like I used to!  I've let you down.  I've let you all down.  But I regret NOTHING!  I will fry again....I'll just keep my portions sensible for an old slime like me.

And that's it for the Mandrake Kakiage and Big Bat Tempura, DMM's!  I hope you enjoyed the journey to Hot Oil Town as much as I did. Tummy trouble aside this was a blast and something you should try for yourself.  See you next week and be sure to keep eating!