Chicken nanban
チキン南蛮
Miyazaki fried chicken: thighs coated in flour and egg, fried golden, soaked in sweet soy vinegar and covered with chunky egg tartar sauce.
Recipe by I Want Some Food · Reviewed by the editorial kitchen. Native name preserved: チキン南蛮.
- Prep
- 25 min
- Cook
- 25 min
- Rest
- None
- Total
- 50 min
- Difficulty
- Medium
- Spice
- No chilli
- Cost
- Weeknight budget$8–16 USD · indicative, not a store price
About
Chicken nanban is fried chicken thigh dipped while hot in a sweet soy vinegar, then covered with a thick egg tartar sauce. The coating is the unusual part: the chicken is dusted in flour and dipped in beaten egg, not breadcrumbs, so it fries to a soft, golden, omelette-like crust that soaks up the nanbanzu. The sauce is equal parts sharp and sweet. The tartar is chunky, more egg than mayonnaise, with onion, pickles and parsley. It sounds like too much on one plate, and that is why it works: hot, sour, rich and cool in the same bite. Shredded cabbage on the side does the cleaning up.
What you'll need
19 ingredients. Tap each one once it's out on the bench.
- Chicken
- Nanbanzu
- Tartar
- To serve
Ingredients
Chicken
- Chicken, 4 boneless thighs, skin on600 g
- Salt2½ ml
- Black pepper1.2 ml
- Wheat flour, plain40 g
- Egg, beaten2 large
- Neutral oil, for shallow-frying500 ml
Nanbanzu
- Vinegar, rice vinegar60 ml
- Sugar40 g
- Soy sauce50 ml
- Mirin30 ml
- Dried chilli (optional)1
Tartar
- Egg, hard-boiled2 large
- Mayonnaise, Japanese if you can find it80 g
- Onion, finely chopped¼ medium
- Pickles, gherkins or rakkyo, finely chopped30 g
- Parsley, chopped15 ml
- Lemon juice4.9 ml
- Sugar1 pinch
To serve
- Cabbage, finely shredded150 g
Scaling multiplies the written quantities. Baking still prefers a scale.
Steps
Step 1
For the tartar, boil the 2 tartar eggs for 10 minutes, cool them in cold water, peel and chop. Soak the chopped onion in cold water for 5 minutes and squeeze it dry. Mix the eggs, onion, pickles, parsley, mayonnaise, lemon juice and sugar with a pinch of salt, and chill.
20 min
Step 2
For the nanbanzu, simmer the vinegar, sugar, soy sauce, mirin and chilli in a small saucepan for 1 minute, until the sugar dissolves. Pour it into a shallow dish next to the stove.
3 min
Step 3
Open the thighs out flat and cut into the thick parts so each is an even 1.5 cm. Prick the skin with a fork and season both sides with the salt and pepper.
5 min
Step 4
Heat about 1 cm of oil in a deep frying pan to 170°C. Dust each thigh in flour, shake off the excess, dip it in the beaten egg and lay it straight into the oil, skin side down.
5 min170°C
Step 5
Fry 4 minutes, turn, and fry 3 to 4 minutes more, until golden and cooked through to 75°C in the thickest part. Cook in two batches rather than crowding the pan.
10 min170°C
Step 6
Lift each thigh from the oil straight into the nanbanzu and turn it so both sides soak for about 10 seconds. Slice, spoon the tartar over and serve with the cabbage and rice.
3 min
Tip: Hot chicken drinks the vinegar; cool chicken just gets wet. Do this straight from the pan.
Nutrition
Per serving · estimate
- Calories
- 702 kcal
- Protein
- 56.3 g
- Carbs
- 23.7 g
- Fat
- 41.4 g
- Saturated fat
- 7.2 g
- Fibre
- 1.8 g
- Sugar
- 12.9 g
- Sodium
- 1433 mg
Calculated from canonical ingredient data (USDA FoodData Central averages and equivalent published tables). Estimates only.
Allergens
Informational only. Not a medical guarantee. Cross-contamination happens in real kitchens.
- Wheat
- Eggs
- Soy
- Dairy-free
- Nut-free
Adapt this recipe
The original recipe stays as it is. Personal versions are labelled. Serving changes are simple maths.
Adaptations · 0 / 15 used. Resets 12 November.
Substitutions
Chicken thigh → Chicken breast, butterflied thin
Leaner and quicker to dry out. Fry a minute less.
Rice vinegar → Cider vinegar with a little extra sugar
Sharper and fruitier. Taste and add sugar until it is as sweet as it is sour.
Tips
- Make the tartar first so it has time to chill. Cold sauce on hot chicken is the point.
- Leftovers go into a sandwich with the cabbage the next day.
History & culture
Chicken nanban is the dish of Miyazaki prefecture in Kyushu, where shops argue over their tartar and every set-meal restaurant serves it. It has spread across Japan as a teishoku lunch with rice and miso soup, a bento staple and a convenience-store sandwich filling.
Nanban, southern barbarian, was the old name for the Portuguese and the foods that came with them in the 16th century, including vinegar marinades with chilli. Chicken nanban itself is usually traced to a Western-style restaurant in Nobeoka, Miyazaki, in the 1950s, where it began as a staff meal. One cook who trained there later served it with tartar sauce, and that version spread.
Traditional — Miyazaki tartar often uses rakkyo, pickled shallots, instead of gherkins. Some shops fry the chicken in a light flour batter instead of flour and egg. Both are local habits.
Provenance: Editorial adaptation.
Questions about this recipe
Answers taken from this dish's times, amounts, swaps and tips.
How long does Chicken nanban take?
50 min all in — 25 min prep, 25 min cook. Cook and rest follow the method. Leftover storage and optional extra waits are not included.
How many does it serve?
The recipe is written for 4 plates. Scale the ingredient list on the page if you are cooking for a different number.
How hard is it?
Medium.
How spicy is it?
No chilli.
What allergens should I watch?
This recipe is labelled for Wheat, Eggs, Soy. Labels are informational — check the packets in your kitchen. This is not medical advice.
Does it fit a diet?
The published recipe is labelled Dairy-free, Nut-free.
12 more questionsFewer questions
What does it cost to cook?
Weeknight budget — about $8–16 USD, as a grocery budget for this recipe, not a restaurant price.
What equipment do I need?
Frying pan, Saucepan, Mixing bowl, Tongs, Chef's knife, Cutting board.
How much salt do I put in?
The recipe lists Salt at ½ tsp.
How much vinegar?
60 ml (rice vinegar) of Vinegar.
How much sugar?
40 g of Sugar.
How much soy sauce?
50 ml of Soy sauce.
How much mirin?
2 tbsp of Mirin.
How much sugar?
1 pinch of Sugar.
What can I use instead?
Chicken thigh → Chicken breast, butterflied thin. Leaner and quicker to dry out. Fry a minute less. Rice vinegar → Cider vinegar with a little extra sugar. Sharper and fruitier. Taste and add sugar until it is as sweet as it is sour.
Any tips from this recipe?
Make the tartar first so it has time to chill. Cold sauce on hot chicken is the point. Leftovers go into a sandwich with the cabbage the next day.
Can I prepare this ahead?
Leftovers go into a sandwich with the cabbage the next day.
Can I use an air fryer?
This method is not written for an air fryer. The core technique on the page still applies.
