Teriyaki chicken (Surf Cook)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s a wonderful guest post from my friend Jeanette, the fabulous Surf cook, creatrice of gorgeous fish recipes that always evoke the scent of sea air & the sound of the waves rolling onto the beach and thus enchanted on a regular basis force me to change whatever dinner plans I had. (I am just a tad envious of her endless supply of fresh seafood – I soo wish I could have a regular fish box delivered to our door, too.) Apart from that she’s a great fountain of food knowledge from all over the world, having extensively traveled and tasted herself through countless authentic cuisines as this Teriyaki chicken proves again. Thank you very much, Jeanette, for this and much much more. I am especially happy about the advice further down and am sending this directly to my husband: can we have this for supper on Friday, please?

 

As I write this, my thoughts are with Nicole and the new life she is about to spring but also enter.

Very exciting times are ahead!

With that in mind, no fussy, frilly dish seems appropriate. Instead, something easy and fairly quick to make seems a better fit.

You have probably done this with readymade teriyaki sauce as a quick dinner. But to my mind, it never seems to be as tasty as when ordered in a Japanese restaurant.

 

The crux is in the sauce but also the chicken itself. It needs to be lightly cured before being grilled or pan fried. That way it acquired a firmer flesh and a bouncier texture. A quick marinade of salt and ginger works wonders.

You can make the marinade in a big batch if you wish. It will keep for about a week in the fridge and is a very good standby to add to salmon, beef, plain rice…There are endless possibilities here.

The chicken can either be pan fried or grilled but, if the weather allows, skewer it and throw it on the hot embers on the BBQ, baste with the sauce for a taste explosion.

Nicole: make the sauce, marinade the chicken and then put your feet up and let someone else take over the grilling and dishing up. And don’t worry if you don’t eat it immediately, it is also delicious cold.

 

 

---

Teriyaki Chicken

Serves two

 

340g chicken thighs, boned, skin left on and chopped into bite sized pieces
1 tsp fresh grated ginger
¼ tsp salt
2 tsp vegetable oil

Sauce:
1 clove garlic, pressed/minced
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp mirin
1 tbsp sake
1 tbsp soy

1 tbsp sake for cooking chicken
1 tsp sesame oil to drizzle over the cooked chicken
1 tsp toasted sesame seeds to garnish (I use both black and white).

 

 

First, make the teriyaki sauce. Mix garlic, sugar, mirin, sake, soy. Either stir until the sugar dissolves or heat the mix gently (the quicker option). At this stage, the sauce can keep in the fridge for up to a week.

Step two: mix the salt and grated ginger in a large bowl and add the chicken pieces. Give them a little massage with the rub, then cover with cling film and rest in fridge for a minimum of 30 minutes.

Once time is up, take the chicken out of the marinade and pat dry with kitchen paper.

Step 3: heat a heavy based pan on medium heat, add the vegetable and put in the chicken, skin side down. After 3-5 minutes, once the skin is a lovely golden colour, turn the pieces over. Add the 1 tbsp of reserved sake and cover the pan with a lid. Let the chicken cook in the steam for about 5 minutes.

Remove the chicken and blot up the excess oil with some kitchen roll.

Add the sauce mix to the pan and let it bubble until reduced into a thick glaze. Be careful not to overdo it as the sugar can burn and caramelize.

Put the chicken pieces back in and coat with the sauce. Take pan of the heat.

Stir in the sesame oil, dish up and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Serve with rice and a side salad.