Teriyaki Chicken Recipe
What is Teriyaki
Teriyaki is a very simple but equally delicious Japanese Marinade for meat and fish which is actually very simple to make fresh at home. Home-made Teriyaki Sauce is so simple that once you know how to make it you will not need to buy it ready-made again!
Essentially Teriyaki is a mixture of Salty and Sweet flavours. The salty flavour comes from the Soy Sauce and the sweet flavour comes from either sugar or honey. In its very simplest form you make Teriyaki Sauce by combining the two until you have the right flavour? Easy huh?
But in this recipe I will give you a more refined version of Teriyaki which will just taste that much better. The recipe here is mainly for the sauce, but I am also including a quick way to marinade and cook the chicken in Teriyaki Sauce.
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Ingredients
For the Teriyaki Marinade
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tsp fresh garlic, minced
- 1 tsp fresh ginger minced
- 1 tsp fresh chilli, seeds removed, finely chopped
- 1/2 cup Mirin (sweet Japanese Cooking wine) - Optional
- 1 Cup light Soy Sauce
- 1 tsp Oyster Sauce
- 1-2 tbsp honey (or sugar)
- 1/2 cup Pinapple Juice
- Toasted Sesame Seeds for Garnish
- Chicken Breasts
Step 1. Prepare the Teriyaki Sauce
- In a wok or frying pan, add the vegetable oil and then add the ginger, garlic and chilli and fry for 30 seconds
Step 2: Add the Mirin
- Add the Mirin and allow to bubble for 1 minute to burn off any alcohol and leave the sweet flavour behind
Step 3: Add the Remainder of the ingredients
- Add the rest of the ingredients, mix well and allow to simmer on a low heat
- It is essential at this stage to taste the Teriyaki Sauce. If it is too salty add more honey or sugar, if too sweet, add more Soy Sauce
- Once the sauce is ready set aside and allow to cook
Step 4: Marinade the Chicken
- When the sauce has cooled, marinade the chicken in about half of the Teriyaki Sauce (leave the other half for basting)
- Ideally do this for a few hours or over night
Step 5: Cook the chicken
- The best way I found to cook Teriyaki Chicken is under a hot grill (broiling) or on the BBQ.
- Drain off the excess Teriyaki Marinade and cook for 15 minutes first.
- For the next 15 minutes baste the chicken with the rest of the Teriyaki Marinade you had left over .
- Continue to do this and a thick layer of glaze will form over the chicken leaving a delicious sweet & salty teriyaki flavour
- Finally I find the best finish to this is to sprinkle the Teriyaki Chicken with toasted Sesame seeds as a garnish. Enjoy!
Final Words
I love Teriyaki Sauce!
But one of the reasons I enjoy making it is you do not need to follow such a strict recipe to yield a good result. Simple taste and add more sweet or salty until you get something you like