Long before sushi became the ambassador of Japanese cuisine to the rest of the world, chicken teriyaki invaded the west, and for better or worse it came to represent the whole of the Japanese culinary repertoire. Perhaps it was the short list of approachable ingredients or the exoticism of food from the far east. Whatever the reason, it’s become so ingrained in American food culture that even Paula Deen has a teriyaki recipe.
So what makes for an authentic teriyaki sauce?
It’s simple… equal parts soy sauce, mirin, sake, and sugar.
for brine
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons Japanese soy sauce
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons mirin
4-6 skin-on filleted (boneless) chicken thighs
for teriyaki sauce
2 tablespoons mild flavored honey (or maltose)
2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
2 tablespoons mirin
2 tablespoons sake
Combine the water, soy sauce, brown sugar and mirin in large ziploc bag and add the chicken thighs. Press out as much air as you can and seal the bag. Let this sit in the fridge for at least an hour.
To make the teriyaki sauce, just add the honey, soy sauce, mirin and sake to a small sauce pan and boil over medium heat until the sauce is glossy and slightly viscous (it won’t get quite as thick as the jarred types). It should take on a caramelized taste but be careful not to burn it.
When you’re ready to grill the chicken, turn the broiler on and move the oven rack up to the upper position. Put a wire rack on a baking sheet (I use the rack out of my toaster oven), and put the chicken thighs skin side down onto the rack (the idea is to keep the meat elevated off the pan).
Grill until brown then flip so the skin side faces up. Baste the skin side with teriyaki sauce and continue to broil until the skin is golden brown with just a few charred spots. Give the chicken one final baste with the teriyaki sauce and serve.
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