Better than a Restaurant: Teriyaki Chicken

My husband is a MAJOR snob when it comes to teriyaki. He felt he'd had some of the best teriyaki in the country when he served his mission in the Everett, WA area...

It has been my mission since we got married to devise a teriyaki recipe that would make him want to forget all about his WA teriyaki..

Tonight, after 2 1/2 (ish) years of marriage, I was finally successful.

Of course, I have to share...

I give you: Better than a Restaurant Teriyaki

4-6 boneless skinless chicken breasts 

1/4 c soy sauce

1/4 c water

5 TBS brown sugar

2 TBS honey

1/4 tsp garlic powder.

Mix the soy sauce and other ingredients in a bag or large bowl. Add the chicken. Let the chicken marinate for at least 30 minutes for best flavor (mine marinated overnight and all day before I cooked it and it was THE BOMB!)

Once the chicken is marinated...

spray a broiler pan with cooking spray and put the chicken on top. Set the oven to broil and put the chicken in. Let it cook 5 minutes and turn. (It should take about 10 minutes for the chicken to cook through, but it may take more depending on how much space is in between each piece. You will know its done because the outside edges will crisp up a bit and any fatty areas on the chicken will start to char slightly.) After its cooked, let it sit for 5-10 minutes outside the oven before you slice it so the juices rest and come back into the center of the chicken, making it juicy and tender.

*Note- if you don't have a broiler pan, a wire rack that can handle high heat on top of a cookie sheet will work, or you could just spray a cookie sheet really well and use it, it may cook faster, so watch your chicken!

In a small saucepan mix

1/4 c soy sauce

3/4 c water

5 TBS brown sugar

2 TBS honey

1/4 tsp garlic powder

Heat to boiling, then mix 1/4 c cold water and 2 TBS flour in cold water until there are no lumps. Add a few tsps of the boiling mix to this and stir again to eliminate lumps. Whisk as you pour it in and constantly for the next 30 seconds to a minute. Turn heat down to medium low and let it simmer until it thickens to your desired thickness.

** Update**I let this sauce reduce to the super thick teriyaki sauce consistency that my husband loves tonight when I was making noodle bowls. It was WAY too salty when reduced to super thick. My suggestion is to take a tablespoon of corn starch or flour and make a slurry to help thicken it, therefore reducing the amount of time its on the heat and keeping the soy sauce from attacking all the other flavors.

Slice chicken into bite sized pieces and pile some over my Fried Rice recipe (found here). Then, using a spoon, drizzle your desired amount of teriyaki sauce over the chicken.

Jeff said it was better than the one he had on his mission...in his words, "This is GOOOOooooooood!" 

Traditional teriyaki is grilled, so it will lack that "smoky" quality that you get cooking it over hot coals, but Jeff didn't miss it at all. The trick is to let the chicken marinate and turning it in the marinade so that each side gets roughly the same amount of exposure.

DO NOT REUSE THE MARINADE TO MAKE THE SAUCE!!! That is health hazard no no #1! It can give you salmonella. Make the sauce with fresh ingredients. I promise, you will be a much happier camper.

Bon Appetite until next time darlings!