Chicken Teriyaki

Making dinner on a daily basis can be a challenge, especially if you have a busy schedule, which most of us do. On slow days, it’s nice to take time and cook something special that takes a little more time, but most of the time, we need something quick that will feed our families. For this reason, I have many recipes that take less than an hour to cook from scratch. Most of them don’t even take half an hour, and this is one of them. In fact, it cooks so quickly, I have to start cooking the rice first, before I start the chicken, so it will be ready to serve as soon as the chicken comes out of the oven.

This recipe is from my favorite source, America’s Test Kitchen, and has become one of my go-to dinners, especially on nights when I’m working or extra tired. This popular Japanese dish is so succulent and tasty, you’ll be licking your fingers. The juicy chicken with crisp skin is served with a homemade teriyaki sauce, which is potent and flavorful, but also light. I love how crisp and crunchy the skin is, but the meat inside is perfectly tender. Seriously, you’ll never get take-out Chicken Teriyaki after you try this version yourself. 

Preheat the broiler in your oven and place the oven rack 6-8 inches from the broiler. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil and place a wire rack inside the baking sheet.

Debone the chicken thighs and trim them from extra fat, etc. Make a few diagonal slashes across the skin with a sharp knife, being careful not to cut into the meat.

The slashes will help to make the skin extra crispy. This will give the heat more access to the fat under the skin and cook it out. If you leave it in one piece, the skin will be flabbier and less crisp.

Season the chicken on both sides with salt and pepper. Place the chicken thighs on the prepared baking sheet, on top of the wire rack. Tuck all the meat underneath the skin.  Melt 2 Tablespoon of butter. Add 1-2 minced garlic cloves to the melted butter. Brush the butter on the chicken skin, being careful not to get any of the garlic on the chicken skin, otherwise it will burn. The chicken skin will have a slight garlic flavor, but won’t have burnt black garlic specks over it. Bake the chicken for 10-15 minutes, until the chicken is golden brown.

This is an excellent way of preparing chicken thighs. Instead of Teriyaki sauce, you can serve it with Barbecue Sauce, Buffalo Wing sauce, Alfredo sauce, etc. It’s absolutely delicious served without any sauce at all, so try it out.

While the chicken is in the oven, combine all the ingredients for the sauce in a skillet or small saucepan. Whisk it all together. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 3-5 minutes, until the teriyaki sauce has a syrupy consistency. When the chicken is done, cut it into slices. Spoon the teriyaki sauce over the chicken and serve extra sauce on the side. I like to serve Chicken Teriyaki with rice. 

Chicken Teriyaki

 

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Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

15 mins

Total time

25 mins

 

Author: America’s Test Kitchen

Recipe type: Entree

Ingredients

• 8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs, trimmed, boned, and skin slashed
• salt, pepper
• 2 Tablespoons butter, melted
• 1-2 garlic cloves, minced

Teriyaki Sauce:

• ½ cup soy sauce
• ½ cup brown sugar
• ½ teaspoon grated or minced fresh ginger
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 2 Tablespoons mirin
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch

Instructions

1. Preheat the broiler in your oven and place the oven rack 6-8 inches from the broiler. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil and place a wire rack inside the baking sheet.
2. Debone the chicken thighs and trim them from extra fat, etc.
3. Make a few diagonal slashes across the skin with a sharp knife, being careful not to cut into the meat.
4. Season the chicken on both sides with salt and pepper. Place the chicken thighs on the prepared baking sheet, on top of the wire rack. Tuck all the meat underneath the skin.
5. Melt 2 Tablespoon of butter. Add 1-2 minced garlic cloves to the melted butter. Brush the butter on the chicken skin, being careful not to get any of the garlic on the chicken skin, otherwise it will burn. Bake the chicken for 10-15 minutes, until the chicken is golden brown.
6. While the chicken is in the oven, combine all the ingredients for the sauce in a skillet or small saucepan. Whisk it all together.
7. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 3-5 minutes, until the teriyaki sauce has a syrupy consistency.
8. When the chicken is done, cut it into slices. Spoon the teriyaki sauce over the chicken and serve extra sauce on the side.

3.1.09

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