Talking Teriyaki

Skillet Chicken Teriyaki
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What is teriyaki? It's a way of Japanese cooking. The word, teriyaki is a combination of two Japanese words "teri" and "yaki." Teri means shiny, and yaki means to grill or broil. To make a teriyaki dish, ingredients are broiled, roasted, or grilled after being marinated in or basted by teriyaki sauce. It's the teriyaki sauce that brings the shiny look (teri) to the ingredients. You can buy teriyaki sauce in a bottle at the grocery store, but authentic Japanese teriyaki sauce is very easy to make. To make traditional teriyaki sauce, basically soy sauce, mirin, and sugar are used. The most important ingredient is mirin, which is a Japanese sweet white wine. If you cannot find mirin you may substitute sake with a little extra sugar or honey. Mirin adds luster to ingredients. Teriyaki sauce can be used for glazing and marinating meats and vegetables.

Traditional Japanese Teriyaki Sauce
Ingredients:
1 cup mirin (Japanese sweet white wine)
1 cup soy sauce
4 tablespoons sugar

Procedure:
Place all ingredients in a pan over medium heat and bring to a simmer until all of the sugar has dissolved, about 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Makes 2 cups.

My Teriyaki Sauce
My teriyaki sauce has a more complex flavor but is very easy to make.
Ingredients:
1 cup of fresh minced pineapple or pineapple juice
1 cup of Tamari soy sauce*
1/2 teaspoon dark sesame oil
3 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons fresh ginger, peeled and minced
2 teaspoons garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon of rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon cold water

Procedure:
In a blender, combine all ingredients except cornstarch and water. Blend until combined. In small bowl, mix cornstarch and cold water. With fork, break apart all the cornstarch clumps until liquid is smooth (cornstarch slurry).Transfer teriyaki liquid to sauce pan. Heat up on medium high heat until hot and bubbly. Remove sauce pan from heat and immediately stir in cornstarch water mixture. Stir rapidly until sauce thickens. Allow to cool. Makes about 3 cups of teriyaki sauce. *Note: Although soy sauce and tamari [tuh-MAHR-ee] are both made from fermented soybeans, Japanese tamari is thicker, darker, richer, and less salty than its counterpart. It has a more complex, smooth flavor than regular soy sauce.

Baked Teriyaki Chicken Thighs
Ingredients:
2 1/2 pounds chicken thighs, rinsed and patted dry

1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup light brown sugar
2 tablespoons mirin (sweet Japanese cooking wine)
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
2 garlic cloves, minsed
1 1/2 inch fresh ginger, crushed
1/4 cup green onions

Procedure:
Rinse and pat dry chicken thighs.

Add remaining ingredients in a medium size bowl. Mix together until sugar dissolves. Place chicken in a freezer bag and add teriyaki marinade. Soak chicken overnight in marinade. Turn and mix chicken in marinade several times during this time.

Pour the marinade into a small pot and simmer for 30 minutes, or until it has thickened. Taste the marinade and adjust if necessary. Meanwhile, bake the chicken pieces in shallow pan covered with foil, at 325˚F for 45 minutes.

Now pour the hot marinade over the chicken and continue cooking for fifteen minutes.

Top with green onions and serve with white rice. 

Makes 3 to 6 servings.

Skillet Chicken Teriyaki
Ingredients:
8 chicken thighs
canola oil for frying
1/3 cup sake for steaming

Teriyaki Sauce Marinade
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon sake (Japanese rice wine)
1 tablespoon mirin (Japanese sweet white wine)
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 onion, grated, including juice
1 inch ginger, grated, including juice

Procedure:
Combine teriyaki sauce marinade ingredients in a bowl or Ziploc bag. Add chicken thighs and marinate for 2-3 hours in the refrigerator. Remove chicken from marinade, saving the marinade. Heat 3 or 4 tablespoons of canola oil in a large skillet on medium high. When hot, place the chicken pieces in skillet and cook until nicely browned on both sides. Now add the sake and cook covered for 8-10 minutes. Remove cover and cook about 2- 3 minutes. Then turn chicken over and add the reserved teriyaki marinade over the chicken. Cook until the sauce is reduced a bit, spooning sauce over chicken as it reduces. Serve the chicken with the sauce and rice and snow peas. Makes 4 servings.

Teriyaki Chicken Sushi Balls

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups short grain rice, cooked

2 pieces boneless chicken thighs

basic teriyaki sauce (recipe below)

2 nori sheets

3 tablespoons rice vinegar

3/4 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups panko bread crumbs

1 egg lightly beaten

canola oil for deep frying

Teriyaki Sauce:

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 clove garlic

1 piece fresh ginger crushed

Procedure:

Prepare teriyaki sauce by combining all ingredients. Set 1/3 of the sauce aside for later use. Use remaining sauce to marinade chicken overnight. Prepare rice seasoning by combining rice vinegar, sugar and salt in a small bowl, mix and set aside. Prepare and cook sushi rice, when cooked, season with seasoning liquid. Mix and fluff rice, cover with dish towel and set aside to cool. Cook chicken on the grill or broil in oven for 10-12 minutes or until fully cooked. Cut nori (seaweed) sheets into 3"x3" squares.

Assembly:

Place about 1 tablespoon of teriyaki chicken onto nori squares, moist the edges and fold. Take some seasoned sushi rice and form a round ball around the piece of nori-wrapped chicken. Heat up oil in a deep pan or wok to 370˚F. Roll sushi balls into the lightly beaten egg then into panko bread crumbs. Gently drop the sushi balls into hot oil and fry for about 20 seconds or until its golden in color. Makes 8 to 10 sushi balls.

Sweet Potato Fries with Teriyaki Mayonnaise

Ingredients:

3 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/4" thick French fry sticks

canola oil for frying

salt

1/2 cup teriyaki sauce, store bought or make your own (see post "Talking Teriyaki") 

1/2 cup mayonnaise

Procedure:

Peel sweet potatoes, cut into French fry sticks. Fry in oil until crispy. Drain on paper towels and sprinkle with a little salt. Mix 1/2 cup Teriyaki Sauce with 1/2 cup mayonnaise for a dipping sauce. Makes 6 servings.