How to Use an Air Fryer in Japan

    This was something new to me and another great suggestion by my mom. When I was whining about my inability to make properly crispy daikon fries back in January, she suggested an air fryer and I started looking into what exactly that was. Ten months later my birthday came around and my husband asked me what I wanted, though he opted to turn the kitchen appliance into an anniversary present instead.

I'm not entirely sure if air fryers were all the rage last year or something but this year they are not that easy to find where I am. We saw this model in Costco and one other model in a K's Denki for about twice the price. We opted for this one without really thinking about the size.

    International brands are great in that you can always check online for the informational booklets and such in English or other languages. I found this one pretty easily and learned that this needs a four inch clearance on all sides when in use. That was hard in our tiny kitchen but after a lot of cleaning and rearranging, we finally found a space where the air fryer can have the space it wants. It just happens to be in the middle of our counter, cutting off almost all prep space.

If you're in a similar set up, here is what I recommend:

Behold my Beautiful Frying Beast!

    1) Make a plan before you start. What needs to be done with the whole counter before you start frying anything? Get that out of the way before your counter space is gone.

    2) Do minor prep while you fry. The fryer takes a lot of energy and most Japanese apartments are still on breaker systems that are easy to trip if you use too much energy at one time. Instead of running the fryer and the microwave and the toaster oven at the same time, let the fryer take center stage when its on and get the other things ready to start once its over. I usually find myself slicing sausages and placing them in the toaster oven while the fryer turns frozen French fries into crunchy perfection.


Nice booklet. Got English? Yes! Online...

    3) Do the math. The booklet that came with ours gave lots of advice that I had to find translations for but proved really useful, such as how long to cook certain things for. It takes a minute to get used to but this stuff cooks so much faster and crispier, not to mention healthier, than otherwise. As long as you recalculate time for the amount of food you're putting in, you should be alright, but check on it frequently when you're cooking something new.


The grating needs to be removed and cleaned, as well as the inside, after every use.

    4) Clean it after every use. Mine had a nice, easy to remove and washable grating that I take care of after every use or at least wipe down between uses if I'm immediately going to cook something else. The cooking space needs to be wiped down at least but can also be washed between uses as long as you let it fully dry before replacing it in the machine.