Sweet, spicy Japanese-style fried chicken

Japanese fried chicken tatsuta age with spicy ponzu sauce at Roku. Photos: Reuters/Zester Daily

Fried chicken, oh how you are loved. Crisp on the outside, moist inside and savoury-sweet, fried chicken is solidly on the list of favorite American foods. But not just in the US. Visit just about anywhere on planet Earth and you’ll find a version of fried chicken. Twice-fried Korean chicken, pounded-flat German schnitzel, sweet chilli sauce Thai and Senegalese peanut-accented chicken are all local favourites.

Chef Roger Lee recently took me into his kitchen at Roku in West Hollywood to show me how to make the classic Japanese fried chicken called tatsuta age.