Saturday, April 23, 2011

Chicken teriyaki

Chicken teriyaki / Frango teriyaki

I’ve been cooking for as long as I can remember and in certain periods of my life I did not have much time to spend in the kitchen – I needed delicious yet quick meals for weeknights.
On my days as a single lady I used to make lots of pasta – both my dad and my sister are crazy for it and dinner would be on the table in less than half an hour.

Recently I’ve been trying my hand at Asian recipes and some of them are absolutely delicious – and equally fast. This chicken teriyaki is a great example: it has instantly become a favorite of my husband’s – a.k.a. "the picky eater" – and it took me moments to put it together.

Let me tell you something: if my husband liked it, picky people everywhere will probably like it, too. :D

Chicken teriyaki
slightly adapted from the wonderful Nigella Kitchen

2 tablespoons sake
¼ cup mirin (sweet Japanese Rice wine)
¼ cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
4 spring onions, white part only, sliced
splash of sesame oil
800g (1¾ pounds) chicken thigh fillets (no skin or bones), cut into bite-sized pieces
½ tablespoon neutral vegetable oil
freshly ground black pepper
handful of parsley leaves, chopped
rice, to serve

In a bowl large enough to hold all the chicken pieces, mix together the sake, mirin, soy sauce, sugar, ginger, spring onions and sesame oil. Add the chicken pieces and turn to coat each one of them in the sauce. Leave for 15-20 minutes.
Heat the oil in a large, shallow frying pan (with a lid) and, using a perforated spoon, transfer the chicken pieces to the pan and sauté until they look cooked on the outside.
Pour the marinade over the chicken, bring to a boil, then cover and turn down the heat, cooking for 5-10 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and sauce is thick.
Stir in with freshly ground black pepper and the parsley. Serve immediately with rice.

Serves 4-6 – I halved the recipe above and Joao and I ate every little bit of it. :)

41 comments:

Trini Altea said...

Mmmmmmmmm muy rico.

Lydia (The Perfect Pantry) said...

My husband is not a picky eater, but he loves all things Asian, and would adore this chicken.

pam said...

I made this too! It was very good!

Dan said...

1 3/4 oz chicken for 4-6 people? Was that a typo? Should that be pounds?

pigpigscorner said...

Looks delicious!

Jeannie said...

That looks great with the fluffy rice on the side! Yummy!

Carol @ There's Always Thyme to Cook said...

Looks fantastic!

Maria said...

My partner (who is half-Jap) adores this dish! Yours looks wonderfully brown and delicious!

Andrea said...

When I was single I used to cook all kinds of pasta for myself. That was, and still is, my favorite weekday food. Since I'm living with my boyfriend I started to cook more meat. He's a carnivore so I had no choice. :)
I love Asian food and I love Nigella so I'm definitely going to try this recipe. Thank you for shearing. :)

Aleida said...

I'm SO glad you posted this recipe! I've been wanting to learn how to make this but have always been too afraid to try. It sounds pretty easy so I guess all of my worrying has been in vain!

Anonymous said...

Can I use chicken tenderloins?

Anonymous said...

Can I leave out the sake and mirin? Is there something else that I can use in place of these ingredients? Thanks, Shiree

Patricia Scarpin said...

Hi Shiree,
if you take out those ingredients it will no longer be teriyaki sauce.

Anonymous said...

Patricia, Do these ingredients contain alcohol? If so does it cook off? Thanks, Shiree

Patricia Scarpin said...

Yes, sake is a kind of booze. I cannot guarantee the alcohol cooks off entirely.

Bruna C said...

I'm savoring this dish right now! Delicious! :)
The sake cooks off well enough, in my opinion, but I love wine, beer etc on the food, so... But I think it does (cook off).
I absolutely looove the taste and smell of the sesame oil! It's all over my house, delightful. ;)
Thanks for sharing!
PS: mine didn't get that brown though... Wondering what happened. Maybe I should have cooked it even longer?
Cheers!

Patricia Scarpin said...

Hey, Bruna!
I'm so glad to hear that! As for the browning, did you use chicken thighs?
Thanks for your feedback!

Konjo said...

I love chicken teriyaki and this was delish! I didn't have sake or rice wine on hand so I subbed some rice vinegar and white cooking wine and it was still great. My sauce did not really thicken up to my liking so I added in a touch of corn starch. Thanks for the recipe!

Patricia Scarpin said...

Konjo, I'm so glad the recipe worked out for you! Good to know it works with different ingredients, too. Thank YOU for letting me know how it went!

Anonymous said...

My son is EXTREMELY picky - typically hates any food that has a sauce (no kidding!) but he loved this and asked for seconds. SO much better than any store bought Teriyaki sauce. Thank you for this recipe!

Patricia Scarpin said...

Hey, there!
I'm so glad to hear your picky son liked the dish! Thank YOU for letting me know how it turned out!

Anonymous said...

Not sure what I did wrong but it was disgusting! Chicken was dry and sauce never thickened.

stacymick said...

the flavor was good, but the sauce never thickened. :(

Patricia Scarpin said...

Oh, Stacy, I'm sorry to hear that - did you use the same ingredients?

Heather Klintworth said...

I have made this many, many times now and it's one of our favorite dishes. My sauce also never thickens, but I just add some corn starch until I get the consistency that I want. I also use dried ginger since we rarely have any fresh on hand. I have made it with both chicken breast meat and chicken thighs and the thighs and while both are good, the thighs definitely give you a better texture. It is so good!

Patricia Scarpin said...

Hey, Heather! I am so glad to know the recipe worked for you! Thank you for letting me know!

Ashley said...

I just wanted to say that I've used this recipe many times and it's always worked out really well. The flavor is wonderful and the I've never had any problems with the sauce thickening. Thank you for a great recipe.

Patricia Scarpin said...

Ashley, how sweet of you to stop by to let me know that! Wonderful news!
xx

Anonymous said...

Making this dish now. Crossing my fingers that it turns out.

Anonymous said...

It turned out great. Thanks for thr recipe. I will def make it again!

Patricia Scarpin said...

Hey, there! That is excellent news - thank YOU for letting me know how it turned out.

Anonymous said...

I just made this and it turned out great - tastes better than local Chinese available in this area. I do believe the ppl substituting other ingredients for the mirin & Sake are not getting the sauce to thicken. These would be key to the taste & thickening - worth the investment in my opinion.

Patricia Scarpin said...

Hey, there,
I'm so glad to hear the recipe worked for you! Thank you for letting me know and for your thoughts about the thickening issue the others faced.

Anonymous said...

Uncover the chicken while cooking, this will help the sauce to reduce and thus thicken.

East2West said...

Can this be made in the slow cooker?

Patricia Scarpin said...

Hi there, I have no idea.

CHANDRA said...

My sauce did not really thicken up or get the lovely brown color in the picture...I have to say it looked pretty ugly...not sure where I went wrong...but the taste was still very good!

Patricia Scarpin said...

Hey, Chandra,
I'm sorry to hear the sauce didnot thicken, I really can't tell you why that happened. :(

Sarah said...

Thanks Patricia, I made this last night and it was a great success. I used the whole sauce quantity (including all your ingredients) for a smaller portion of chicken thighs but it reduced down to a lovely, very dark, sticky goo as I left it uncovered throughout and cooked it a little longer. I also let it marinade for at least 40 minutes as I took a phone call and got distracted! My husband said it was restaurant quality so I'll definitely make it again.

Patricia Scarpin said...

Dear Sarah, I am so glad to hear that! Thank YOU for letting me know how the chicken turned out! xx

Anonymous said...

Chicken marinating now. Only had boneless breasts on hand but will try. Smell great so far.

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