Kotsu Kotsu, the karaage chicken specialty shop in the Track 119 foodcourt

In the discreet foodcourt Track 119, a food and music venue a stone's throw from the Atelier des Lumières, the Kotsu Kotsu stall unveils its recipes for chicken karaage, in the pure Japanese tradition.

Far from Parisian Japanese restaurants with their lengthy menus, the new Kotsu Kotsu restaurant is surprisingly small, reflecting the size of its premises. Located in the discreetTrack 119 food court , this Japanese mini-chop is the work of Japanese chef Chikashi Miyamoto.

Here, he prepares a simple, everyday Japanese cuisine, obviously homemade, based around a flagship product of Japanese street-food: chicken karaage. Halal and gluten-free - in most of his dishes, Kotsu Kotsu (which translates as "with diligence") aims to be accessible to all.

The menu's star product, chicken karaage, comes to the table in 6-piece (9€), 12-piece (15€) or 20-piece (22€) sets. To prepare it, the Kotsu Kotsu restaurant has its own recipe, completely different from the other fried chicken stalls in Paris.

Made from chicken thighs (a tender, juicy choice), it is soaked overnight in a homemade marinade of fermented rice, salt, mirin and ginger (a different marinade from the classic soy sauce and garlic preparation).

The bird is then coated with rice flour (unlike some recipes based on wheat flour and potato starch), and fried not once but twice. The result is a finely coated chicken karaage, with a delicate texture and no fried odor.

It can be happily dipped in three different sauces: a slightly hot sauce made from miso paste, garlic and fried onions (Taberu Rayu), a sweet-and-sour sauce (Nanban) and a honey-mustard mayonnaise, all of which are particularly tasty.

But gourmets can also go for the Katsu burger (13€), with a nice piece of karaage chicken, pickled cabbage and Japanese mayonnaise, all served in a charcoal bun; or for the pickled chicken donburi (15€), a generous bowl of steamed rice topped with scrambled eggs, green beans, and chopped chicken thighs sautéed in a sweet homemade soy sauce.

Two dishes of simplicity, without pomp or superfluity, just like this Japanese potato salad (€4), simply garnished with pickled radish for added texture.