Teriyaki Chicken

I made this for dinner last week, and I asked Hilary if she liked it. She said "Yes" and I asked her why. She looked up from her plate of rice and teriyaki chicken and said to me with conviction, "Because...I love the chicken so much!". And indeed, she loved it so much that she had second and third helpings of the chicken (and didn't finish her rice!). This is my second post on teriyaki chicken this month. The first one was a Teriyaki Chicken and Egg rice bowl, where I baked and grilled the chicken in the oven with a sweet teriyaki sauce. This second version I'm posting today is based on Nami's recipe, from Just One Cookbook. I decided to try her version which uses onion and ginger in the marinade.

When I finally compared my photo and hers, I realised that mine is 10x darker and blacker. LOL. I might have gone a little overboard with the caramelization and charring of the chicken. Nevertheless, it was very tasty and packed a punch from the ginger, with some of the sweetness of the onions making its way through as well. I can imagine this would be really popular if served at a barbeque lunch or party, and is something both kids and adults would enjoy thoroughly.

Teriyaki Chicken

Adapted from Just One Cookbook

Ingredients

500g (1 lb) chicken thigh filllet

2 Tbsp sake for steaming

Teriyaki Sauce:
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp sake
1 Tbsp mirin
1 Tbsp sugar
1/4 onion, grated, including juice
1 inch ginger, grated, including juice

Method

1. Cut the chicken into 1 1/2 inch cubes.

2. Combine Teriyaki Sauce ingredients in a bowl or Ziploc bag.

3. Add chicken and marinate for 2-3 hours.
4. Heat oil on medium high in a large skillet or non-stick pan. When it’s hot, shake off excess marinade from the chicken and place the chicken in the pan. The marinade will burn easily so try not to add any liquid in the pan. Do not throw away the marinade.
5. Flip the chicken over and fry the other side. Then add sake and cook covered for 8-10 minutes.
6. Remove the chicken to a plate and clean the skillet.

7. Heat the skillet and place the teriyaki sauce into the pan along with 2-3 tbsp water. When it starts to simmer, place the chicken into the pan and stir to coat in the sauce.

8. When the sauce starts to thicken and creates a glaze over the chicken, turn off the heat and transfer the chicken to a serving plate. Serve hot with steamed white rice.