Easy Ways To Make Teriyaki Chicken

Teriyaki is perhaps the most famous Japanese method of cooking meat. In Japanese cuisine, usually it is prepared with fish such as yellowtail, marlin, skipjack tuna, salmon, or trout. But in the western cuisines red and white meat such as chicken, beef and pork are used more often. Chicken seems to be the most wanted main ingredient in this dish, so take a look at some of the easiest ways to make it.

Picking the right meat

Let’s start with the traditional Japanese method of cooking teriyaki chicken. First of all, know what parts of the chicken are best for this. Luckily, almost any part of the chicken can be used, but it is best to use the leg meat — thighs or drumsticks, which are filleted so that the meat cooks evenly. Secondly, it is important to leave the chicken skin on. This way the meat stays tender and when glazed it gets wonderfully crispy and caramelized on top.

Making the sauce

Now let’s talk about the most important part — the sauce. You can always buy it, but the authentic sauce is really easy to make. The Japanese teriyaki sauce is made with equal parts of soy sauce, mirin (Japanese sweet rice wine) or sake, ginger and sugar. It is better to use mirin instead of sake, because it adds the luster that makes the whole dish look so scrumptious.

Grilling the chicken

Once the sauce is made, let it cool completely. The sauce can be used as a marinade for the chicken, as baste and as dipping sauce. If it is used as a marinade, make sure you leave some aside to use as baste and dipping sauce as well. To get the most flavour out of this, you need to marinade the chicken for at least an hour, but it would be even better if you leave it in the fridge overnight (but not more than a day). Grill the chicken and baste it with the sauce several times. Serve with rice and vegetables.

You can even cook vegetables and spices along with the chicken if you like. Although it is not the authentic way to make the teriyaki chicken, it gives it more flavour, colour and variety from the original recipe. Here is a good recipe you might want to try. You can use spring onions, garlic, or pineapple juice. As for the spices, sesame seeds and chilli are always a good choice.

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