Ron W.
Yelp
When I was younger, my mother had a recipe book that covered all the different ways you can fry chicken. There was one page for every state in the Union: Carolinas, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, and Texas to name a few. In fact, there were some great ideas for the fried chicken I had never tried before, which is one of the staple dishes of the American South. The author went on to say, its origins lie in Scottish immigrants who arrived in what is today the United States centuries ago. While this book was seen as the holy grail on how to cook fried chicken back in the day, I always felt deep in my heart there something was missing. Ironically, it wasn't until my next door neighbors from Yokohama introduced me to two of those missing chapters, one of which is Yakitory, and the other is Karaage.
The latter Karaage, is Japanese style fried chicken that is so delicious, you have to taste it first-hand to believe it for yourself. One would think that the best way to enjoy this delicious entrée would be to book an expensive flight to Tokyo. However, instead of spending a fortune on airfare, you can just drive to nearby Farmington Hills, and enjoy some very delicious karaage at Sozai Chicken.
The vast majority of chicken used in Japanese cuisine, comes from the thighs, as its sweet and tender. At Sozai, you can buy multiple sizes of karaage, and katsu, which is white breast meat. They also offer Japanese BBQ sauce that you can add to the katsu, to really give it an over the top punch. One entrée they serve is "Curry Rice With Fried Chicken." If you love curry rice like I do, this is on my list for the next time I visit Farmington Hills.
Although Sozai Chicken is really a fast food approach to Karaage, I have a feeling it's going to become very popular. The really cool thing is that you have the ability to customize your meal accordingly. Hopefully, they will expand to places like Ann Arbor in the future, where this type of food would be a big hit with the college crowd. In the meantime, enjoy this place to the fullest.