Teriyaki Chicken

I know some of you will think, is teriyaki chicken really a recipe? Don’t you just buy a bottle of the marinade from the grocery store? But I prefer to make my own marinade then I can adjust the sugar and salt to my taste and know that when I reduce the marinade and cooking juices down to make a sticky sauce to coat the chicken it won’t be too salty and overpowering. Plus, who knows what they put in those bottles, I’m guessing they are full of preservatives. This quantity should feed 4 easily , even with hollow legged teenagers, just serve with heaps of cooked sushi rice and veggies to fill them up. Recipe adapted from Kitchen by Nigella Lawson.

Ingredients

• 1 & 1/2 tbsp (30ml) sake
• 3 tbsp (60ml) mirin
• 3 tbsp (60ml) soy sauce
• 1 & 1/2 tbsp light brown sugar
• 2 tsp grated fresh ginger
• small splash sesame sauce
• 750gm chicken thigh fillets, cut into bite sized pieces
• 1 tsp neutral oil
• cooked sushi rice to serve

Directions

Mix the sake, mirin, soy sauce, sugar, ginger and sesame oil in a bowl large enough to hold the chicken as well.

Add the trimmed and cut up chicken, mix well and leave for 15 minutes at room temperature.

Heat the oil in a large fry pan or casserole (that has a lid) and using a slotted spoon, transfer the chicken from the marinade to the pan. Saute until they look cooked, no need to cook all the way through.

Pour the marinade over the chicken pieces in the pan and bring to a bubble, turn down to a gentle simmer and put on the lid. Cook for about 5 minutes, by now it should be cooked through – cut into a piece if you aren’t sure.

Remove the cooked chicken to a bowl using a slotted spoon. Turn up the heat under the pan and boil the liquid down to a thick, syrupy sauce.

Return the chicken to the pan and stir gently to coat the chicken thoroughly in the sticky sauce.

Serve with sushi rice and steamed green of choice.

I like to garnish with finely sliced spring onions and sesame seeds. Some like to serve with some kewpie mayonnaise on the side for dipping. A quick and easy dinner that is sure to please the whole family. Enjoy, plus don’t forget to leave me a comment if you make this to let me know how you got on. Sheryl x