Two chefs, Arata Hosokawa and Shoji Moriyama were both obsessed with karaage, and both felt they could bring out more flavour from the fried food. According to Yoshitake, in 1970, each man opened his own karaage shop in Nakatsu where they refined the marinating process, adding pieces of apple, and brining the bird for a longer period to bring out more flavour in the chicken itself. The shops were instant hits and inspired a bevy of copycats that helped define Nakatsu as the heart and soul of karaage.
