Browned thigh fillets are braised in soy sauce, sake and mirin. Simple yet highly nuanced.
Cook’s notes
At home, teriyaki is one of our “default” dishes. Even when we run out of basics like fresh onion and garlic, there are always bottles of soy sauce, sake and mirin in the pantry. I’d make teriyaki sauce and use it on whatever there is in the freezer. It’s just so versatile. And it transforms whatever it touches.
The traditional way to cook chicken teriyaki is to marinate chicken in the sauce and grill it. My problem with this method is that the alcohol in the sake and mirin does not totally burn off during grilling. I like the rich sweetness of sake and mirin in my chicken but I don’t like the bitter aftertaste of alcohol. It’s different when you drink wine.
So, I cook chicken teriyaki differently. I boil the seasoning sauce to reduce it for concentrated flavor then I cook the chicken fillets in it until the sauce caramelizes, thickens and turns glossy, and coats the chicken fillets beautifully.
Chicken teriyaki rice bowl
Ingredients
Teriyaki sauce
- 1 cup soy sauce (use Japanese soy sauce which is less salty than Chinese)
- 1 cup sake
- 1 cup mirin
Chicken
- 6 to 10 chicken thigh fillets preferably skin on, about 700 grams / 1.7 pounds in total weight
- 1 teaspoon cooking oil (only if using skinless chicken fillets)
Instructions
Make the teriyaki sauce
- In a small sauce pan, mix together all the ingredients for the teriyaki sauce. Heat and bring to a gentle boil.
- Boil the mixture over medium-low heat, uncovered, until reduced by half.
Cook the chicken teriyaki
- Wipe the chicken thigh fillets dry with paper towels.
- Heat a heavy thick-bottomed frying pan.
- If your chicken thigh fillets are skinless, spray or brush the bottom of the pan with oil.
- Lay the chicken thigh fillets in a single layer, skin side down (or smooth side down if using skinless) in the pan. Cook over high heat until lightly browned, about three minutes.
- Flip the chicken fillets over to brown the opposite side, about three minutes.
- Lower the heat to medium and pour a quarter cup cup of teriyaki sauce over the chicken.
- Cook for another four to six minutes, flipping the chicken fillets over often, until the sauce has caramelized and coats the chicken fillets evenly.
Serve the chicken teriyaki
- Move the chicken fillets to a chopping board and cut into strips.
- Pile the chicken teriyaki strips over rice in a bowl (or, alternatively, serve the rice on the side).
Skewered and grilled pork adobo