Published January 1, 2005.
Tired of food-court chicken teriyaki wannabes, we were determined to develop a simple but authentic recipe.
Too many chicken teriyaki recipes are lackluster--they can include everything from skewered chicken chunks shellacked in a corn-syrupy sauce to overmarinated, preformed chicken breast patties. They're a long way away from the simple recipe promised in the name "teriyaki"--"teri" meaning to shine (referring to the sauce) and "yaki" meaning "to broil."
We wanted a straightforward recipe that delivered a simple and authentic result of crisp and moist, sweet and salty glazed chicken.
First, we decided against using breast meat. While skinless breasts were easier to cut into strips than skin-on chicken thighs, breast meat couldn't stand up to the salty profile of the teriyaki sauce. We gained back some of the time spent boning the chicken thighs by determining that we didn't need to marinate or simmer them—we could get equally good results by spooning sauce onto lightly salted-and-peppered broiled thighs just before serving. We also tried to be efficient by using bottled teriyaki sauce, but our testers felt that none had the bright taste and balance of our homemade version. But since ours took only five minutes to make, this was an easy tradeoff. We combined soy sauce, sugar, and mirin, added a touch of cornstarch to achieve the right consistency, and finally added more depth with grated ginger and minced garlic.
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