Yurinchi Chicken (Crispy Fried Chicken with Soy Vinegar Sauce)

Yurinchi chicken (油淋鶏) is a Japanese favourite that pairs crisp, golden fried chicken with a sharp, aromatic soy–vinegar sauce. Hot, crunchy chicken meets a tangy dressing, creating a dish that’s light, punchy and deeply addictive.

This classic Japanese Izakaya dish pairs beloved Japanese fried chicken (karaage) with a distinctive sweet and tangy sauce made by combining vinegar and soy with sweet elements and spring onions (green onions). It clings to the crisp coating of the chicken and highlights the savoury umami with every bite. The pop of sweet, sour and salt is completely addictive and elevates what is already a 'can't-stop' kind of meal.

Making yurinchi chicken is easy and the sauce is a breeze - once you try, you'll never be content with simple fried chicken again. Give me all of that delicious sauce!

Yurinchi Chicken is part of my curated Asian Hub and my Asian Chicken Collection, where you'll find more delicious recipes just like it.

What's Ahead?

What is Yurinchi Chicken?

Yurinchi chicken (油淋鶏) is a well-loved dish in Japanese cuisine, especially in home cooking and casual restaurants serving chūka ryōri. It features crisp, golden fried chicken topped with a fragrant dressing made from soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil and sugar. The result is a sharp, savoury and aromatic dish that balances crunch with freshness.

Chūka ryōri refers to Japanese-style Chinese cooking — dishes inspired by Chinese flavours and techniques but adapted to Japanese tastes. Compared to their Chinese counterparts, chūka ryōri dishes are often lighter, cleaner and more restrained, with an emphasis on balance rather than intensity.

Why it works?

• It's perfectly balanced - a sharp, tangy sauce is perfect alongside the succulent chicken with its crisp coating.
• The sauce is versatile - yurinchi sauce can be paired with many ingredients other than fried chicken. It's perfectly suited to cold or poached chicken, fish, meat and vegetables too. My favourite alternative is a whole steamed fish, like snapper.

Stuff You'll Need

Making yurinchi chicken is easy, and uses everyday items, nothing too extravagant.

• Chicken - Japanese fried chicken works best using thighs, with the skin on. The chicken stays juicy and succulent. You can use breast too, just be careful not to fry for too long so as to dry it out.
• Potato starch - this acts as the coating for the chicken and gives it all that irresistible crisp texture.
• Oil for frying - use a neutral oil like canola or sunflower
• Chicken Marinade - the chicken is marinated in ginger, sake, mirin, pepper, soy and mayonnaise.
• Sauce - the sauce is a simple combination of sesame oil and seeds, ginger, sugar, rice vinegar, sake, soy and spring onions (green onions).

Step by Step

Making yurinchi chicken is a breeze, there are only a few simple steps to follow.

1. Cut the chicken thighs into bite-sized pieces (leaving the skin on) then marinate with grated ginger, sake, mirin, white pepper and a little mayonnaise. Anywhere from 1-24 hours (in the fridge).
2. Whisk the sauce ingredients together to give you a simple dressing-style consistency.
3. Tumble the chicken pieces into the potato starch and toss around to evenly coat.
4. Heat around 600ml of neutral oil in a medium saucepan (18-20cm/7-8" diameter) to around 180ºC/350ºF temperature.
5. Shake off any excess potato starch and add around 5-6 pieces of chicken one by one into the oil and let them fry for 5-6 minutes, drain on paper towels - repeat with the remaining chicken. Let it cool then reheat the oil and do a second fry of the chicken for 2-3 minutes for the crunchiest results.
6. Serve right away. You can either pour over some of the dressing, which is traditional, or as I prefer, serve it on the side as a dipping sauce. Accompany with a simple green salad.

Pro Tips

• Warm Sauce - You can gently heat the sauce which is also traditional - it does lose a little of its aroma, but still delicious. Heat in a pan until warm, but not boiling.
• Up the spring onion - In many restaurants, the spring onion/green onions are more abundant - try adding double the quantity (six), for a more onion-forward aroma and flavour.
• Add spice - create a spicy version by adding 1 tbsp chilli oil or 1/2 tsp chilli flakes to the sauce.

Serving & Storage Suggestions

• Serving is simple, generally a main course or part of a set meal, at the most, a simple green salad accompanies the chicken to cut through and freshen up the richness.
• Sauce - The sauce will be fine in the fridge, in an airtight container for up to a week. Not great for freezing so not recommended.
• Leftover chicken - will be ok in the fridge for 2-3 days. It can be either deep fried for 1-2 minutes or baked in the oven for 5-8 minutes (both at 180ºC/350ºF) until hot.
• Freezing the chicken is possible. I suggest freezing on a baking sheet in a single layer (not touching), then when solid, tumble into a zip-lock bag. Reheat by heating the oil to 180ºC/350ºF and cooking from frozen in small batches for 2-3 minutes. Alternatively, bake in the oven from frozen (180ºC/350ºF) for 15-20 minutes. Don't reheat in a microwave - the texture will suffer too much.

Ready to get cooking?

You'll just love this izakaya special, a dish not often seen on menus outside of Japan. It's a wonderful combination of texture and aroma - a special little treat for all occasions - try it on a game day or a snack with beer (fantastic) - however you choose to enjoy, you'll come back to this recipe time and again, because it's just THAT addictive! Enjoy!

More Japanese recipes

If you liked this recipe, I'm sure you'll love some more of my favourite Japanese suggestions.

• Karaage Chicken
• Menchi Katsu
• Chicken Katsudon
• Buta Kakuni (Japanese Braised Pork)

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