The process of making Shinbikiko is quite remarkable. Sweet rice (mochi rice) was steamed, dried, and ground to be "Domyojiko", which is shiny coarse ground rice flour, typically used for making Japanese confectionary. This Domyojiko is further ground to finer powder, then carefully toasted to make it puffy (but with no color!).
Shinbikiko is used for both Japanese confectionary and savory dishes. Most common way of using Shinbikiko in savory dishes is for batter for frying. Especially with delicate fish, Shinbikiko makes beautiful airy crust.
With Shinbikiko, I made simple Kara-age chicken (fried chicken). The recipe is extremely simple.
Shinbikiko Chicken Kara-age
1. Cut 10 oz (300 g) chicken tender into bite-size pieces. Marinade in 1 tablespoon shio-koji overnight (or 2-3 hours is fine).
2. Combine the chicken (with the marinade) and egg white from 1 egg and mix well by hand. Set Shinbikiko in a bowl on the side.
3. Heat vegetable oil to 360F (180C) degrees. Lightly dredge each piece of chicken tender in Shinbikiko and deep fry in the oil until outside is crispy and inside is cooked through (about 3 minutes).
4. Serve with lemon wedges.
Crust was so airy and chicken was so tender and juicy. Shinbikiko totally upgrade your homey kara-age to another level. How lovely.
