> There are curiosities like karaage which is "kara" (crust) + "age" (fried thing).

Slightly off-topic, but “karaage” (kara + age) isn’t “crust + frying.”

The kara comes from a country name and refers to a style of cooking — it’s a “country-name + cooking method” compound.

this is the commonly accepted explanation, though whether it’s strictly historical or a later interpretation is still debated.

If you fry something without coating it, that’s usually called “su” (plain) + “age” (frying) instead.