What’s not to love about teriyaki chicken? It’s probably the simplest way to dip your toe into Japanese food. It’s pretty easy to make too. Maybe that’s why I ordered lunch from the teriyaki place so often back in the day: it’s an easy grab and go option!
The teriyaki place that was once on my lunch rotation served skinless chicken thighs. However, after doing some lazy Internet research, I found many blogs using skin-on chicken and I love it! The crispiness of the skin gives the chicken some extra texture, and not to mention, flavor!
Adapted from iamafoodblog’s Teriyaki Chicken
If you like this Teriyaki Chicken recipe, try my
Roasted Thai Chicken
Vietnamese Roasted Chicken
Crispy Chicken Thighs with Spring Vegetables
Teriyaki Chicken
- Yield: 2–3 with sides 1x
- Category: Mains
- Method: Pan fry
- Cuisine: Japanese
Description
What’s not to love about teriyaki chicken? It’s probably the simplest way to dip your toe into Japanese food. It’s pretty easy to make too.
Ingredients
SAUCE
- 3 tablespoons of light soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon of mirin
- 1 tablespoon of Chinese cooking wine
- 2 tablespoon of granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon of water
- 1 clove of garlic, smashed
INGREDIENTS
- 4 to 6 boneless, skin-on, room temperature chicken thighs, pat dry well,1 excess fat trimmed, thicker parts slit so meat is flattened
- Salt
- Pepper
- 1 tablespoon of neutral-flavored cooking oil
Instructions
Make the sauce. Combine the ingredients into a small pan and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat to medium high and allow the sauce to simmer. Continuously stir as it reduces to your preferred consistency. Move your pan to a separate burner under low heat and discard the garlic clove.
Cook the chicken. Lightly season both sides of each chicken thigh with salt and pepper. Preheat a thick-bottomed pan over high heat but not smoking. Add cooking oil into the pan. Gently add the thighs skin side down into the pan and allow them to cook undisturbed for 2 minutes.2 Turn the heat down to medium, leaving the thighs skin side down until the fat renders and the skins are golden brown, about 7 minutes more. Flip and cook until the thickest portion of the thighs have reached a minimum 165⁰F. Turn off the heat, remove the thighs from the pan. Allow the thighs to rest for at least 5 minutes before serving. They go well with Japanese rice, some sautéed vegetables, and of course, the sauce!
Notes
1 It may not be easy to find chicken thighs that are both boneless and skin-on. I like to buy bone-in chicken thighs and de-bone them myself. SAVE THOSE BONES! Throw them into a broth you’re making and they’ll add another level of flavor to your broth.
2 Oil may be sputtering everywhere while the chicken is cooking, so use a splatter screen if you have one.
