Teriyaki Chicken (照り焼きチキン,日式照烧鸡肉)

INTRODUCTION

I have said many times that when I frequented Japanese restaurants, I have less choices to order because I only eat cooked food… Besides Katsudon, karaage, the next most common dish is teriyaki chicken..Teriyaki chicken is extremely easy to prepare especially with the ready made teriyaki marinate that can be commonly found in Singapore and Malaysia supermarket.

I loves anything that goes with teriyaki sauce.. It is slightly sweet and the glossiness of the cooked meat make the dish so delish looking.. Not only I liked this, my kids also loved this much which is expected since its flavour combinations is very much like Chinese cuisines..

In fact, teriyaki sauce ingredients are Japanese rice wine (mirin), Japanese light soya sauce and some brown sugar. All these were common cooking ingredients in Chinese recipes..

“Teriyaki (kanji: 照り焼き; hiragana: てりやき) is a cooking technique used in Japanese cuisine in which foods are broiled or grilled with a glaze of soy sauce, mirin, and sugar.^[It also refers to a type of sauce put on meat in America which uses neither soy sauce, mirin, nor sugar.The word teriyaki derives from the noun teri (照り^?), which refers to a shine or luster given by the sugar content in the tare (タレ^?), and yaki (焼き^?), which refers to the cooking method of grilling or broiling. Traditionally the meat is dipped in or brushed with sauce several times during cooking. The tare (タレ^?) is traditionally made by mixing and heating soy sauce, sake, or mirin; and sugar or honey. The sauce is boiled and reduced to the desired thickness, then used to marinate meat which is then grilled or broiled. Sometimes ginger is added and the final dish may be garnished with spring onions.” (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teriyaki)

In this recipe, what I am sharing is the recipe without the use of ready made teriyaki sauce. It is a very simple marinating and for cooking, instead of grilling in the oven, I have opted to use the pan fry method..Though some of the ingredients listed are Japanese cooking ingredients such as sake and mirin and Japanese light soya sauce, you can always use Chinese cooking wine or light soya sauce and the taste will not be very far off.

WHAT IS REQUIRED

Recipe adapted from: Chicken Teriyaki Recipe (Pan-fried) – No Recipes

Servings : About 4-5 adult servings

500 grams of deboned chicken
2 tablespoons of light brown sugar
2 tablespoons of Japanese light soya sauce
2 tablespoons of Mirin or Japanese rice wine.
1 tablespoon of minced garlic (optional)
1 tablespoon of minced ginger (optional)

Sauce

Marinate from the above meat
2 tablespoons of Japanese light soya sauce
1 tablespoon of maltose or honey
1 tablespoon of Mirin or Sake

STEPS OF PREPARATION

Clean and marinate the chicken with light brown sugar, Japanese soya sauce and Japanese rice wine (mirin) in a plastic bag. Let it marinate for at least 1 hour. If you want, you can add some minced ginger and garlic to the marinate to enhance the flavour.

In a frying pan, put 1-2 tablespoons of oil, pan fry the marinated chicken under medium heat for at least 5-10 minutes on each side or until the chicken is cooked. The timing will very much depends on the thickness of the chicken meat. To test the readiness, use a tooth pick to poke the thickest part of the meat, if it is cooked, the meat will be very easy to be pierced through and there will be no blood water coming out. Dish up the meat and set aside.

In a bowl, stir maltose or honey, Japanese light soya sauce, mirin and the chicken marinate left from marinating the chicken (as captured in the plastic bag) until well combined. Add to the frying pan. Bring to boil until the sauce thickens or until the consistency that you are looking for. The consistency shall be thick and glossy. In this process, you will witness colour changes from light to dark and the boiling bubbles will gradually turn from small bubbles to big bubbles.

Cut the chicken and drizzle with the sauce. Sprinkle with sesame seeds if desired.

CONCLUSION

This is a very simple recipe that you can easily prepare at home.. If you do not have all the specialized Japanese cooking ingredients, you can use Chinese cooking wine, and soya sauce. The taste will not be extremely far off. Of course, to make it authentic, Japanese cooking ingredients are still preferred.

Hope you like the post today. Cheers and have a nice day.

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