This is part of a Sverve campaign with Ore-Ida® Bold & Crispy fries, but all opinions are my own. #FindYourBOLD
This May has been an extremely busy time for our family. All four kids have end-of-the-year projects, I’m preparing for our oldest son’s graduation (totally stressed out on this one), and there are several extra-curricular school activities to attend. All these added events means less time to get creative in the kitchen and the kids are often heard saying, “We’re eating spaghetti AGAIN?!” Yes. Again. Sorry.
Since we’ve been having the same ole’ dinner recipes for several weeks, I knew I needed to give my kids a dinner that excited them. After all, dinner is the one time during the day when I can get all of them around the table. Dinnertime is when all electronics are turned off and good conversation is the only entertainment. Unfortunately, my lackluster dinners have them dragging their feet to the table at different times. Not good. It also meant my kids were scarfing up their food and running away from the table without talking.
It was time for a meal intervention. There were three things I needed the new meal to do –
1. Get my kids excited for dinner.
2. Get them unplugged and to the table on-time.
3. Get them to stay seated for longer than a millisecond and talk to each other.To get my family back on track for dinnertime, I updated one of my kids’ favorite meals, Japanese fried chicken or karaage. They usually eat it plain and straight out of the frying pan: no sauces or toppings. However, since I was looking for a change, I decided to update my fried chicken with a bold twist. I used a pre-made Thai sweet and spicy chili sauce, found in most Asian stores, to coat the fried chicken. Using a pre-made sauce keeps things simple, adds bold flavor, and doesn’t add any cooking time in the kitchen! A win-win!
Now that my chicken recipe was updated, I needed a side to compliment it. Normally we have rice with almost every meal, but that was too boring to serve with the new jazzed up chicken. I needed something just as bold! Ore-Ida® Bold & Crispy Spicy Sriracha Fries were the perfect side to compliment the new Japanese fried chicken with a bold twist.
To start this new bold dinner, I started with the basic chicken marinade. It’s only three ingredients: soy sauce, sake, and ginger. Then, I added in chicken that was cut into 1 1/2″ strips. To ensure the marinade flavors permeated the chicken, I used a fork to poke holes all over the strips. Next, I let the chicken marinate for 30 minutes in the refrigerator. After 30 minutes, the pieces of chicken were coated with cornstarch. After each piece was coated, the pieces were fried until golden brown.
Can you see my assistant helping me coat the chicken? She was so excited to try something new that she volunteered to help prepare dinner. Amazing what the excitement of a good meal can do. It actually got my teen daughter to…GASP!… leave her room and help me in the kitchen! I know that parents of teens know exactly what I’m talking about.
Once the chicken pieces were fried, I took sweet chili sauce and brushed it onto each piece. The sauce isn’t very hot, but if you have a super sensitive palate, mix equal parts of ranch dressing and sweet chili sauce to make a cooled down version and serve it on the side. My oldest daughter likes the ranch mix as a fry and chicken dip.
I originally only planned on picking up Ore-Ida® Bold & Crispy Spicy Sriracha Fries, but I ended up coming home with two other Ore-Ida® Bold & Crispy flavors – Garlic and Pepper Steakhouse Fries and Zesty Twirls. I guess that’s what happens when the kids come shopping with me and are dying for something new. Besides, I couldn’t deny them more fries when they all volunteered to bake both the Ore-Ida® Bold & Crispy Spicy Sriracha Fries and the Garlic and Pepper Steakhouse Fries for dinner. It’s pretty amazing to see how food can influence and motivate teens to be more helpful.
Want to know the best part of updating a family favorite dish and adding Ore-Ida® Bold & Crispy Fries to our dinner? The meal accomplished all three things I wanted it to do –
1. It got my kids excited for dinnertime. They even helped to cook the meal!
2. The kids unplugged and were at the dinner table on-time.
3. The kids sat at the dinner table long enough to talk to each other. We even tried to figure out a math problem that my son’s teacher posted for bonus points on a test! Now that’s good food if it keeps the kids at the table to talk about math problems! If you need suggestions for ways of getting your kids to talk,check out this #FindYourBold Pinterest board for ideas.
I’d love to hear how you #FindYourBOLD for dinnertime meals. Do you play games, ask random questions, try new meals? Let me know in the comments below!
Japanese Fried Chicken
Ingredients
- 3 lbs. boneless chicken thighs or breast (cut into 1 1/2)
- 6 T. low sodium soy sauce (can substitute with regular soy sauce)
- 4 T. sake (substitute with sherry)
- 2 T. ginger (finely grated frozen ginger root. Reduce if using fresh ginger.)
- 1 1/4 cup cornstarch (chicken coating)
- 2 cups cooking oil (to fry chicken)
- Optional - Toss chicken in sweet chili sauce or serve it on the side
Instructions
In a large container, mix together the soy sauce, sake, and ginger.
Cut chicken into 1 1/2" strips and add into the soy mixture. Use a fork and prick holes into the chicken strips. Cover the container, place into the fridge, and marinate for 30 minutes. - After 30 minutes, remove chicken from the fridge. Place oil in a large frying pan over medium high heat.
Place cornstarch in a bowl. Take the pieces of chicken and coat each one with cornstarch, shaking off any excess. Place the pieces into the frying pan. Reduce heat if necessary. Cook chicken for about 3-4 minutes per side or until fully cooked.
Remove chicken from oil and drain on paper towels. Chicken is tasty on its own, but can be served with your favorite condiments, sauces, and sides. We like to toss our chicken in Sweet Chili Sauce.
Notes
- Use whatever type of sauce or dipping sauce you would like with this fried chicken.
Recommended Products
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Amazon Basics Stainless Steel Dinner Forks with Round Edge, Pack of 12 -
Sweet Chili Sauce for Chicken - net content 10 fl oz, net wt 12 oz (Pack of 1) -
Rubbermaid Easy Find Lid Square 1.5-Gallon Food Storage Container, 2-Pack, 24 Cup, Clear/Red -
Good Cook 3-Piece Mixing Spoons Set -
Superior Glass Mixing Bowls with Lids - 8 Piece Mixing Bowl Set with BPA- Free lids
Yum! That looks so good! Thanks for sharing
This looks amazing!
Popping over from the Tips andTricks Link Party.
This chicken looks so crispy! Yum!
My kids love crisp chicken strips so will be trying this recipe 🙂
It’s super crispy! Sometimes I love making fried things with cornstarch because of how crispy it makes everything.
Sounds tasty! My husband loves Sriracha 🙂 … maybe I’ll remember this combination for sometime in the future.
I’ve pinned your post, thanks for sharing at #SmallVictoriesSundayLinkup …hope to see you again this week!
Thanks for pinning and stopping by Betsy. The sriracha fries were really good and I think your hubby will like them.
Great recipe, has my mouth watering. Such simple ingredients but with such an incredible taste.
Super simple 🙂 Hope you try it.
I’m absolutely in love with this meal. These are all the flavors I love to eat! I’m definitely making that chicken!
Thanks Christine. My kids love when I make fried chicken and love the simple sauce too.
Thanks so much for your reply. This is still on my “to do” list. With summer here, it’ll be a fantastic dish!
It looks like the siracha fries were the most popular! I love siracha and can’t get enough of it – I think I will try the chicken with it!
Yes, the sriracha fries were definitely a favorite. Although, my kids like almost any fries…lol.
I Love recipes with a twist Erlene! This one looks delicious! Pinned and shared!
#ibabloggers
Thank you Joanne. Appreciate all you do!
This is a fabulous post about mealtime with family. Kids do get motivated to help out whenever they have an opportunity to try new things. This post is featured this week on Funtastic Friday. Thanks for linking up and sharing with us. Hope you join us again this week.
Thanks Sherry. I’m behind on things for the blog. I appreciate the feature!
I bet my son would love these “hot” treats, he and hes friends like to out do each other. And if seems Sriracha seems to be every where now.
Thanks for stopping by to share on Friday Features!!
Have a great weekend!!
Karren
Isn’t it funny how popular sriracha is? It’s a great combo on the fries and your son would like it. Thanks for hosting the party and coming over to visit.
I had no idea Ore Ida made these fries and I will now search for them along with finding someone who can cook better than me to make that awesome looking chicken. My mouth is seriously watering over here. So happy you linked up at #HomeMattersParty
Thanks for hosting such a great party and coming over. These fries are new and we tried all the flavors except for the BBQ fries. My kids really enjoyed the Sriracha and Zesty fries the most.
In an effort to sound completely sappy, it’s just so heartwarming to see a family sharing mealtime around the table. If it takes a recipe makeover and some Ore Ida baked bold fries, so be it! I’m with your daughter, I’d mix the ranch dressing with the sauce to make it a bit more mild for my sissy tongue but I’d definitely enjoy that sweet chili sauce with this meal. Your chicken looks delicious. I’m hungry, I’d like some right now!
Food is the one thing that drives my teens to the table…lol. I hope you get to try the dip and chicken…it’s so yummy.
My family would love your Japanese fried chicken and the fries, too! It looks delicious! Congrats on your oldest son’s graduation! They grow up fast, don’t they?
Thanks Alli. Yes, they do grow up fast. I still can’t believe he’ll be starting college.
We would love to have this delicious meal! My son would love it too!
I love family meal time, and I agree, it is so important. Your chicken looks amazing! 🙂
~Lorelai
Life With Lorelai
As my kids have grown, it’s become harder to get them to the table. Cooking a meal they love is always a way to get to come to the table 🙂
Fried chicken is such a wonderful comfort food, your Japanese version sounds delicious!
I never really thought about fried chicken as comfort food, but I guess you’re right. My kids love it.
What a great idea! I love the Japanese fried chicken. It has been too long since I made any chicken dipped in cornstarch. I’m interested in the brand of sweet chili sauce you use.
I love using cornstarch on chicken. It makes the best super crunchy crust. The brand of sauce is Mae Ploy and you can find it in most Asian stores and sometimes it the Asian section of the grocery store.
This looks like a delicious twist on typical fried chicken and anything that easy is good in my book- can’t wait to try it!
Thanks Jessy. It’s hard not to like fried chicken, but the added sweet chili sauce is wonderul.
That sauce sounds so delish. I’ll bet a version of it would be fantastic on a Chopped.
The sauce would be great on a chopped salad. Plus, the sweet chili sauce that I use doesn’t have any preservatives or color additives.
These look amazing!
Thanks Christina. I just realized I forgot to add the actually measurements and have added it to the post.
That sounds like something my children would like. Thanks for sharing!
looks absolutely fabulous! I’ll have to try this! Thanks for sharing!