Hokkaido's take on karaage. Bone-in chicken marinated overnight in garlic, soy, ginger and a touch of sesame oil, then double-fried for a crisp shell and juicy interior.
Where to eat it: 3 restaurants across 1 city.
Zangi traces partly to Chinese karaage that arrived in Hokkaido through Chinese cooks after World War 2, and partly to a Kushiro chicken-restaurant menu (Toriyoshi, 1960) that codified the marinade. By the 1970s, zangi was the Hokkaido home-cooking standard and a Sapporo izakaya staple; today it competes with miso ramen for the Hokkaido household-food crown. Sapporo Zangi Honpo and Chinese Ryouri Hotei are the two reference shops, with Hotei's zangi-on-rice (zangi-don) the cheap-eat icon.
Common allergens: Soy, Gluten, Egg
Tip from the editors. Two-stage frying is what separates zangi from karaage. The 160-then-190 cycle gives the crisp shell with juicy interior.
This is the TableJourney editorial recipe, modelled on the canonical bistro / counter version. The first place to try the dish in its city of origin is below.
Sapporo's reference zangi (Hokkaido fried chicken) counter. Set meals under 1,000 yen with free rice and cabbage refills; weekend lines run 15 minutes.
Try: Hokkaido zangi teishoku
Tip: Same set-menu price all day; the Sapporo Station branch is the queue overflow.
A Sapporo Chinese-Japanese kitchen famed for its zangi-on-rice bowl. Five minutes from Nishi 11-chome subway; lunch sets land 800-1,200 yen.
Try: Zangi rice bowl
Tip: Cash preferred; closed Sundays.
A Sapporo Station-area izakaya pulling chicken thigh zangi at 100 yen a piece. No appetiser cover, no service charge; cheap base for an after-work drink.
Try: 100-yen zangi
Tip: 100 yen per skewer; no service or cover charge.
More cities are in research. Want zangi (hokkaido fried chicken) covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.