Karaage is a Japanese dish where meat or vegetables are coated in potato starch and deep fried. Chicken is commonly used as the main protein. Making Karaage, or Japanese fried chicken, at home is not too difficult. You can make Karaage in your own kitchen by following the below recipe.

Karaage Ingredients for Serving 2 People

•  2 large chicken breasts
•  2 tbsp sake
•  2 tsp mirin
•  4 tbsp soy sauce
•  2 cloves minced garlic or 1 tsp of pre-minced garlic
•  2 tsp grated or ground ginger 
•  1.5 cups potato starch 

Ready in Approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes
Preparation: 20 minutes
Marinating: 1 hour
Cooking: 25 minutes

Cooking Steps
1. Remove the plastic bag from the refrigerator.
2. Heat oil in a pot or deep fryer over medium heat. 
3. While oil is heating, spread out the potato starch on a flat kitchen dish.
4. Coat each piece of chicken in the potato starch. 

5. Fry the coated chicken for about 4 minutes until it is golden brown and cooked thoroughly. Flip the chicken pieces halfway through to ensure they cook evenly.
6. Put the cooked pieces on a plate or serving dish with a paper towel to soak up any extra oil. 
7. Serve with rice, cooked vegetables, or by itself. ​

I am pleased to announce that I will be hosting a panel at the 2019 Queen City Anime Convention in Charlotte, NC. My panel on traveling to Japan is scheduled for Saturday, August 10th at 11:00 a.m. in Panel Room 2. You can visit the convention website for more information regarding guests, panel scheduling, and other weekend activities. 
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​I will be attending the Queen City Anime Convention from August 9th – 11th, 2019 in Charlotte, NC. This year, the convention will be held at the Sheraton Charlotte Hotel. You can register in advance at a reduced price until July 9, 2019. I have submitted a request to host a panel on Saturday or Sunday. I will share more details about the convention and a link to the schedule of events when they are available.  

June 2018 celebrates the one year anniversary of my last trip to Japan as well as the creation of this website. I visited Osaka, Kyoto, Nara, and Tokyo with my fiance (Ashley) and her mother in June 2017. My fiance's mother was living in Iwakuni, Japan at the time and meet us in Osaka to start the trip. I cannot recommend getting off a 13 hour plane and then taking a train ride from Tokyo to Osaka in the same day. We had a wonderful trip, new experiences, and learned much about each other. Traveling with others and traveling solo can create completely different experiences. As a male, it can be quite challenging sharing a bedroom and bathroom with two females for over a week. I wrote a journal chronicling our journey (as I also did on my first trip) and sent daily emails out to friends and family. The positive feedback I received from readers is what inspired me to share my knowledge and experiences with others.

Moving forward into the next year of writing, I will expand topics by touching more on what Japanese culture means to me.  Starting in July, I plan to go deeper into the emotional connections with Japanese culture and how it has continuously inspired me since 2004. I hope you continue to join me on this adventure as we cross into the second half of the year.