Name: Chicken Teriyaki
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 25 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Japanese
Ingredients: 4 chicken thighs, boneless, skin on; 60 ml soy sauce; 60 ml mirin; 2 tbsp sake; 1 tbsp caster sugar; 1 tsp fresh ginger, grated; 1 tsp neutral oil; 2 spring onions, thinly sliced; 1 tsp toasted sesame seeds; 400 g steamed rice, to serve

Chicken Teriyaki

Real teriyaki is a technique, not a bottled sauce: chicken pan-fried until the skin crackles, then glazed in a reducing mixture of soy, mirin and sake until it lacquers. Fifteen minutes, four ingredients in the sauce.

25 min total Serves 4 servings Easy

Chicken Teriyaki, in preparation
Photograph credit: Chicken teriyaki roll from Sarku by Ser Amantio di Nicolao · CC0 · Wikimedia Commons

The Method for Chicken Teriyaki

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Pat the thighs completely dry and, if needed, even out the thickness by slashing the thicker parts. Season lightly.
Mix the soy sauce, mirin, sake, sugar and ginger in a small bowl.
Put the thighs skin-side down in a cold, lightly oiled non-stick pan. Set over medium heat and cook, pressing down occasionally, for 8 to 10 minutes as the fat renders and the skin turns deep gold and crisp.
Flip and cook 3 minutes more. Pour off all but a teaspoon of the rendered fat — keep it for frying rice later.
Pour in the sauce and let it bubble hard around the chicken for 2 to 3 minutes, spooning it over constantly, until it reduces to a syrupy glaze that coats the back of a spoon.
Rest the chicken for 3 minutes, then slice thickly. Serve over rice with the remaining glaze poured over, and scatter with spring onion and sesame seeds.

Related guide: Choosing rice.

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Keep an Eye on These

Never add cornflour. Properly reduced mirin thickens on its own and tastes infinitely better.
The glaze goes from perfect to burnt in about 30 seconds. Stay at the pan.
Works equally well with salmon fillets — reduce the glazing time to 90 seconds.

Swaps and Variations

Out of spring onions? A small regular onion, finely sliced, or a few chives stirred in at the end both cover the job.
If you only have ground ginger, a quarter-teaspoon for each tablespoon of fresh is the ratio usually given; it tastes warmer and less bright than the fresh root.

About This Recipe

Teri means shine and yaki means grilled: the gloss comes from mirin's sugars reducing to a syrup that clings. Starting the chicken skin-side down in a cold pan renders the fat gradually, producing crisp skin without the flare-ups a hot pan would cause.

On the Table Alongside

Cold sake or green tea · Steamed rice and quick-pickled cucumber · Finish with orange segments

Sides from the same cuisine on this site: Japanese Milk Bread (Shokupan), Nasu Dengaku.

Leftovers

Keeps 3 days refrigerated. Reheat in a pan with a splash of water to loosen the glaze; the microwave makes the skin rubbery.