Published April 23, 2007.
For a straightforward chicken teriyaki recipe that would deliver a crisp, moist, sweet, and salty glazed chicken, we decided against using breast meat, since it 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 in our chicken teriyaki recipe, but our tasters felt that none of the brands we sampled had the bright taste and balance of our homemade version. But since ours took only five minutes to make, this was an easy trade-off.
This recipe was developed to work in an in-oven broiler, not the drawer-type broiler typical of older gas ovens. Mirin, a sweet Japanese rice wine, is a key component of teriyaki; it can be found in the international section of most major supermarkets and in most Asian markets. If you cannot find it, use 1 tablespoon white wine and an extra 1/2 teaspoon of sugar. If desired, low-sodium soy sauce can be used in place of regular soy sauce.
Dear Friend,
These days, it’s pretty easy to get free recipes on the Internet. I’m sure a search for “roast chicken recipe” will turn up thousands and thousands. But, as with so much on the web, you should tread lightly if you don’t know the source.
In America’s Test Kitchen, our motto is, “Recipes that Work,” and our mission is to be your trusted source for recipes that work every time you use them. Our test cooks spend their days obsessively testing recipes until they offer consistently great results. As we like to say here, “We make the mistakes so you don’t have to.”
CooksIllustrated.com is the only place you can find not only 20 years' worth of our foolproof recipes, but also objective ratings of cookware, and blind taste tests for hundreds of everyday supermarket ingredients (hey, without the proper ingredients and equipment you can still run into problems — no matter how good the recipe).
Let me make a simple, no-nonsense offer. Try out our website FREE for a 14-Day, No-Hassle Trial Offer. I’m pretty confident that CooksIllustrated.com will quickly become an invaluable resource for everything from quick, weeknight suppers to huge, holiday feasts for family and friends.
Thanks for your consideration,
Christopher Kimball
Founder and Publisher
