Teriyaki Chicken is a very popular Japanese dish and is so easy to make. The sauce is just a mixture of soy sauce, sake, mirin and sugar. Just sauté the chicken and cook in the sauce (DO NOT marinate chicken in the sauce to make Teriyaki Chicken the Japanese way). It takes only 15 minutes!
Teriyaki Chicken (照り焼きチキン) is more commonly called tori no teriyaki (鳥の照り焼き) in Japan. Tori (鳥) means bird but chicken in this context.
It is one of the most popular Japanese dishes among Aussies and I presume in other parts of the world as well. At almost every Japanese restaurant in Sydney, you will find Teriyaki Chicken on the menu.
I often find that the flavour of the Teriyaki Chicken at restaurants is slightly Westernised and I can sometimes even taste garlic in it. But the recipe I am sharing today is the traditional Japanese way of making Teriyaki Chicken.
ABOUT TERIYAKI SAUCE
You can’t talk about Teriyaki Chicken without mentioning Teriyaki Sauce.
This is a very simple sauce that is made up of only four ingredients. But once you know the proportion of ingredients, it becomes so easy to cook flavoursome dishes in 5-10 minutes. Any dishes called ‘teriyaki’ something uses this Teriyaki Sauce.
The Teriyaki Sauce is made with 1 part soy sauce + 1 part sake + 1 part mirin + about ½ part sugar. I say ‘about ½ part sugar’ because you can adjust the sweetness to your liking.
Here is the sample photo of soy sauce, sake and mirin I use. At supermarkets in Australia, you might find different brands of miring and cooking sake such as Bento brand. They are fine to use too. Please visit Japanese Dressings for more details about them.
Combine them together and mix well to dissolve the sugar. You can heat the mixture slightly to speed up the process of dissolving the sugar if you like.
This sauce is a very good sauce to have on hand. It keeps for weeks in the fridge and you can sauté or grill fish/meat/vegetables and pour the sauce over it. You could add grated garlic/ginger to vary the flavour too.
PREPARING CHICKEN for Teriyaki Chicken
I use chicken thigh with the skin on. I know the skin is fatty, but I think that the chicken looks nicer with the skin on when cooked, especially nicely browned.
But if you prefer chicken fillets without the skin on, that’s OK. You can also use chicken breast but you might find that the cooked chicken is slightly dry.
Thigh fillets are usually thick on both sides and thin in the middle. It is important to make the thickness of the fillet even.
Place a fillet on a cutting board, skin side down, and make a cut horizontally and outward where the meat is thick and butterfly it (see the photo below and the Video).
Using the tip of the knife, poke the skin randomly (see the Video). This will allow the Teriyaki Sauce absorb into the flesh better.
SECRET OF MAKING GREAT TERIYAKI CHICKEN
Have you ever experienced the teriyaki sauce not sticking to the chicken evenly and the sauce is somewhat mixed with oil? This is because you had too much oil in the frying pan before adding the Teriyaki Sauce to it.
The chicken is covered with oil and also the excess oil and the sauce splits as they do not mix well. To prevent this to happen:
- Do not add oil to the frying pan when cooking the chicken.
- Wipe away any excess oil in the frying pan just before adding the Teriyaki Sauce (see the photo below).
When you do the above, you will find that the sauce sticks to the cooked chicken and you will have a saucy Teriyaki Chicken.
Serving Teriyaki Chicken
Most Japanese meals are served in such a way that you can pick up and eat the food with chopsticks without needing to cut it. In this recipe, I sliced the chicken after it was cooked so that you can still see the whole fillet of chicken, and it is easier to pick up a piece with chopsticks.
But if you are eating Teriyaki Chicken with a knife and fork, you don’t need to slice the chicken.
I served Teriyaki Chicken with shredded cabbage but any green salads or boiled vegetables are OK. If you are using a dressing, I’d suggest a light one.
Teriyaki Chicken Don
If you place sliced Teriyaki Chicken over the rice with extra sauce poured on it, you get a Teriyaki Chicken don (Teriyaki Chicken on rice in a bowl).
Instead of shredded cabbage, you can grill or blanch vegetables to give extra colour to the dish. Below is a Teriyaki Chicken don with charred shallot/scallion stems and blanched snow peas that I just ate after taking these photos (yum, yum).
I cut the white part of shallots/scallions to 5cm/2″ long then cooked in a frying pan with no oil until they get burnt here and there. They go surprising well with the Teriyaki Sauce.
If you are making Teriyaki Chicken don, cook Teriyaki Chicken as per the recipe but increase the amount of Teriyaki Sauce by 50% so that more sauce will be poured over the chicken and dribbled onto the rice, making the rice so tasty.
I hope you like my version of Teriyaki Chicken.
Yumiko
P.S. Don’t forget to see the section ‘MEAL IDEAS’ below the recipe card! It gives you a list of dishes that I have already posted and the new recipe in this post that can make up a complete meal. I hope it is of help to you.
Teriyaki Chicken is one of the most popular Japanese dishes. The Teriyaki Sauce is so easy to make, it’s just a mixture of soy sauce, sake, mirinand sugar. You do not marinate the chicken in the sauce to make Teriyaki Chicken. Just sauté the chicken and cook it in the sauce, which takes only 15 minutes in total! See the video below the recipe to believe it.
- 350g/12oz thigh fillets skin on , bone removed (note 1)
- 1½ tbsp soy sauce (see post for sample photo)
- 1½ tbsp sake (see post for sample photo)
- 1½ tbsp mirin (see post for sample photo)
- 2 tsp sugar
- 2 cups shredded cabbage
- ½ cup shredded carrot
- ¼ cup thinly sliced capsicum
- a sprig of parsley or mint (optional)
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Combine the Teriyaki Sauce ingredients in a small bowl or cup and mix well until the sugar dissolves (note 4).
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If the thickness of the chicken is uneven place a fillet on a cutting board, skin side down, make a cut horizontally and outward where the meat is thick and butterfly it (see the Video).
Poke the skin with the tip of the knife in several places so that the sauce will get through to the flesh better.
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Heat a non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Place the chicken in the pan, skin side down. Cook for 3-4 minutes until the skin gets cooked to a golden brown. Turn the chicken over and cook for about 3 minutes (Note 5). If a lot of oil comes out of the chicken fat and skin, absorb excess oil with a paper towel (Note 6).
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When the chicken is nearly cooked, add the sauce, shake the pan to even out the sauce, and put the lid on. Cook for 30 seconds.
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Remove the lid and cook until the sauce thickens and reduces to about 1-1.5 tablespoons (Note 7). Turn the chicken over and coat the skin side with the sauce.
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Remove the pan from the heat and place the chicken on the cutting board, skin side up. Cover with foil for few minutes to let it cook further. Slice the chicken into 1.5-2cm/⅝-¾” thick pieces.
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Place mixed cabbage, carrot and capsicum salad on a plate and then arrange the sliced chicken. Pour the sauce over the chicken and add a sprig of parsley/mint if using. Serve immediately.
1. I could not find chicken thigh with only skin on. So, I bought chicken thighs with skin and bone on and removed the bones.
You can use skin off and even chicken breast if you prefer. The texture of the chicken will be different, particularly with chicken breast, but the flavour should be the same.
2. You can make a larger quantity of Teriyaki Sauce to use for another dish. Teriyaki Sauce keeps about a month in the fridge.
3. You can pick any vegetables to go with the Teriyaki Chicken but I would recoomend either fresh salad or boiled vegetables.
4. You can warm up the sauce on the stove or in the microwave to dissolve the sugar faster if you want.
5. Depending on the thickness of the thigh fillets, time will vary.
6. It is important to remove the excess oil as much as possible. Too much oil from the fat prevents the teriyaki sauce from sticking to the meat. This is the reason for using a non-stick frying pan with no oil. If using a normal frying pan, I’d suggest that you oil the pan with a small amount of oil when heating it up.
7. You need to retain enough sauce to pour over the chicken on the plate. After turning off the heat, the sauce continues to cook with the pan’s residual heat and concentrate further. So, turn off the heat slightly earlier. You can always concentrate further if required.
8. If you are making Teriyaki Chicken don (Teriyaki Chicken on rice in a bowl), increase the quantity of Teriyaki Sauce by 50% and pour it over the cooked chicken on rice. The rice will absorb extra sauce which is really tasty.
9 Nutrition per serving including salad.
serving: 329g calories: 442kcal fat: 26g (40%) saturated fat: 7g (35%) trans fat: 0.1g polyunsaturated fat: 505g monounsaturated fat: 11g cholesterol: 166mg (55%) sodium: 301mg (13%) potassium: 634mg (18%) carbohydrates: 19g (6%) dietary fibre: 3.1g (12%) sugar: 14g protein: 31g vitamin a: 109% vitamin c: 127% calcium: 4.6% iron: 9.5%
Originally published in August 2017. Rewritten in June 2019, new photos, Meal Ideas added.
Meal Ideas
A typical Japanese meal consists of a main dish, a couple of side dishes, a soup and rice. I try to come up with a combination of dishes with a variety of flavours, colours, textures and make-ahead dishes.
As Chicken Teriyaki comes with a sweet sauce, I serve Cucumber and Seaweed Sunomono (Vinegar Dressing) to cleanse the palate. Instead of Sunomono, you can serve something with vinegar but perhaps not with Amazu (sweet vinegar) as the teriyaki sauce is sweet.
Instead of miso soup, I though clear soup might be better suited to the strongly flavoured main dish.
- Main: Teriyaki Chicken – today’s recipe
- Side dish 1: Gomoku-mame (Simmered Soybeans with Vegetables) – make ahead
- Side dish 2: Cucumber and Seaweed Sunomono (Vinegar Dressing) – alternatively, Octopus and Cucumber Sunomono
- Soup: Japanese Style Egg Drop Soup (Kakitama-jiru) – or other clear soup
- Rice: Cooked Rice
Hi Yumiko, may I ask what u use to cut your cabbage so very fine? I am in UK, the thinnest mandoline slicer will go down to 1mm, I would love to go much thinner!
thank you.
Hi Olga, I used a peeler. I have a wide peeler and I just slide the peeler against the cabbage, perpendicular to the layers of leaves. You may find a wide peeler at the kitchen shop. Here is a good quality Kyocera wide peeler as an example. But mine is a cheap metal wide peeler.
Hi Yumiko,
Thanks for sharing your yummy recipes!
With the mirin and cooking sake, what shop do you go to? Would they be available in any asian stires?
I agree with thigh fillets skin on, I cant seem to find it in any butcher or even Coles or Woolies. So I might have to learn how to fillet them 😔.
Also, what dressing can you recommend for shredded cabbage please?
Thanks again 😘
Racquel
Hi Racquel, mirin and cooking sake are available in any Asian grocery stores. I think they are even available at super market in the Asian grocery section. Please buy the Japanese brand since the flavours of sake particularly are quite different country by country. E.g. Chinese sake has much stronger flavour.
Dressing for the shredded cabbage can be either French dressing, mayonnaise or just use extra teriyaki sauce.
Hi! I would like to ask if there are any subs for cooking sake & mirin? 🙂 It’s just we’re not allowed to consume foods with any alcohol content. 😊
Hi Zyra, my best suggestion would be to leave it out, when very small quantity is used.
If you are referring to Teriyaki Chicken recipe, replace sake with same amount of water, mirin with same amount of water plus sugar which should be half quantity of mirin. This sugar is in addition to the sugar listed in the ingredients.
Great! Thank you! 😊
Super delicious! Super easy. Mmmm…
Hi Toby, thank you! Easy and delicious. What else can you ask for?
Thank you sooo much for this crispy skin teriyaki Chicken! It’s to die for! I made it tonight and LOVED IT so much. Exactly like in the Jap restaurants.
Hi Sarah, now you don’t need to go to the restaurant for it!
Absolutely perfect! Question: with the Green Onions, if I go to the Japanese grocery in San Diego they have something called Tokyo-Negi—a much thicker green onion than what’s available in the US. Is this a better choice than the skinny green onions?
Hi Toby, in Japan, equivalent to Tokyo Negi is what they use for Negima. So indeed, it is better!
Hi I’m wondering if there’s any substitute for sake ? In planning to make this but i only found expensive sake 🙁 .thank you.
Hi Mhai, you could substitute sake with sherry. If the Asain grocery store sells ‘cooking sake’, that’s better.
This was delicious, just like everything else we have attempted!
Thank you so much for creating your site. Not only do your children have access to your recipes, but my children are loving being able to put authentic tasty food on the table. Every recipe we have tried has been a success. And I definitely cannot complain about all the veggies they eat without a fight or the fact that they want to make supper! We have also started doing bento boxes for school lunches! Deepest thanks from myself, husband, and 5 children for a taste of Japan in Missouri, USA.
Hi Rachel, fantastic!
I’m so happy that you are making use of my recipes and even making bento for your children.
Thanks for a kind note.
I’ve tried various versions of Teriyaki Chicken recipes and this is gooooood. So simple, yet so flavoursome. I like the taste of this recipe and the kids loved it too. Thanks for sharing the Japanese version!
Hi Pauline, thanks! I feel honoured that you gave me 5 stars after trying various recipes.
Hi Yumikosan!
I am Ajita from India. I am a big fan of Japanese cousin! And thanks to your blog I have started cooking Japanese food at home too.
I will really appreciate if you could pls share the recipe of chicken shichu without d ready-made shichu paste.
Waiting to hear from you.
Ajita
I am sorry I meant Japanese cuisine. Autocorrect sucks sometimes.
Hi Ajita, did you mean chicken cream stew which is thick and white? If so, this is something I will be able to share.
Hey Yumikosan
Thanks so much for replying to my email.
Yes that’s exactly I would love to learn from you.
I’m not sure which mirin, sake, and soy sauce are nice for true Japanese teriyaki sauce?!
Hi El, I use different brands depending on what’s available at the shop and the price. You can see the sample bottles of these seasonings in my post Japanese Dressings. For mirin, I usually buy Takara brand but sometimes, I buy Hinode brand or Mizkan. For cooking sake, I used to use Mizkan or Hinode brand which are good brands. But I now use Takara brand which does not contain salt unlike most others. See my post Teriyaki Chicken for the photo. Soy sauce can be Kikkoman, Yamada or Higashimaru brand.
This was so delicious. I love your recipes as much as I love Nagis.
Best Regards
Thank you, Steven!
I usually buy teriyaki chicken or the sauce from stores, but this is so simple to make and the chicken is very tasty. I used skinless chicken thigh and they turned out great. Thanks Yumiko for a simple and tasty recipe, and the notes to wipe the oil off the pan. It’s the little things that make the dish better 🙂
Hi Yvonne, it is surprising to find that simple sauce you make at home turns out to be much better than the one you buy, isn’t it? I’m glad that you find it easy to make and tasty, too.
HI Yumiko
I made this dish last night. Wow… it was so good. Chicken moist and flavourful. This recipe definitely goes in the ‘keeper’ file. I also tried cooking spring onions (scallions) in the frypan as you suggested. Another winner. I had never thought of cooking them before but I am glad I did. The onions were wonderful, sweet and soft but still with a little crunch. YUM!! The teriyaki sauce is far superior to what you can buy and easy to make. Thanks for a great recipe.
Hi Davo, you are most welcome and I am glad you like it including grilled spring onions. Once you know how simple it is to make teriyaki sauce, you will never want to use a store-bought, do you?
Tried this tonight with a couple of thin boneless, skinless chicken breasts. The breasts were not as tender as thighs would have been, but they were pretty good. I found I had to cook them much longer than what the recipe calls for to get them to 165°. The sauce, however, was fabulous, certainly much, much better than any store bought Teriyaki. Being a sauce lover, I doubled the sauce so I would have enough to drizzle on the salad.
Hi Brian, your chicken breast might have been a bit thicker. But I am glad that you liked the teriyaki sauce. It’s a great idea to drizzle on the salad!
Hi, are we able to replace Mirin and sake with something? I’m cooking this for a young toddler and prefer not to use alcohol in the cooking process. Thanks!
Hi Jess, you can replace sake with water. With regard to a substitution for mirin, there is non-alcoholic mirin (https://www.amazon.com/Honteri-Non-alcoholic-Mirin-Sweet-Seasoning/dp/B00IFW3X9A) and if you can purchase it, that would be the easiest. If not, replace with 1½ tablespoon of water + sugar which is 1/3 of the quantity of water.
So easy and so tasty my family loved it!! I added a little salt though. Thank!!
Hi Estela, I’m glad everyone liked it.
Thanks for the recipe – was so simple and easy, and tasty. Added a minced garlic clove just for the danger of it. Delish!
Hi Celia, that’s great and thank you!
What mirin and sake did you use?
Hi El, I don’t always use the same brad but you can visit my post Japanese Dressings where I included a photo of sake, mirin and others that I used at the time. Sake was Mizkan brand, mirin was Hinode brand. Hinode also makes cooking sake. Other than those, Takara brand for mirin and sake.
Thanks for your great recipes. Could you please include the nutritional content.
Thanks, Sharon
I will try when I can.
I made this last night and it was INCREDIBLE!!! I’ve been following both yours and Nagi’s blogs for a while, and I’ve made Nagi’s version before, but this was so easy! It’s been hard to find skin on chicken thighs for some reason where I live (small Scottish island!) but I found some and randomly decided to make your version and it was so gooood! I also made some nori rolls (badly but tasty!) and a salad and hands down, the chicken was the best bit!
Thank you for all the recipes, I love reading about it all!
Hi Beth, thanks for reaching me out. Teriyaki chicken and nori rolls – sounds yummy!
Hey there!
Does the skin go soft by putting the lid on for that 30 seconds?!
Cheers!
Hi Jax, I must admit that the skin test a bit soft due to steaming. If you want a very crunchy skin, you can cook a bit longer at lower heat without a lid.
Thanks for sharing this was really good and very easy dish. I added ginger and some garlic to the sauce. I will make this again😊
Hi Ruth, that’s great!
I love teriyaki chicken (this week I ate it four days out of five – and cooked it twice because the first time it wasn’t enough to satiate the hunger for teriyaki chicken) 🙂
What is sake? I keep seeing all kinds of interpretation – Chinese beer, Chinese vodka, something else…
I use honey instead of sugar, but the fact that chicken thigh is much better than the breast is a fact 🙂
Thanks for the recipe!
Hi Zee, wow, you must be fond of Teriyaki Chicken!
Sake is a Japanese alcholic beverage (Japanese rice wine) made usually from rice. It’s clear like water and alcohol % is about 15%. When using in cooking, you have a choice of buying a bottle of drinking sake and use it (this will serve two purposes, i.e. drinking and a beverage and using it in cooking) or buy a small bottle of cooking sake which contains a bit of salt but much cheaper than the drinking sake. You can buy a bottle of cooking sake from Asian/Japanese grocery stores or some supermarkets. Visit my post Japanese Dressings where you can see a sample sake bottle in the photo.
I came across this recipe by coincidence. I’m hesitant to make it because I don’t own a nonstick pan and I’m hoping I don’t need to purchase one just for this recipe. I only have stainless and cast iron pans/pots. Will it make a difference?
Hi Wren, you needn’t to buy a non-stick pan! I suggested non-stick pan only to avoid the chicken from sticking to the pan. Using a different frying pan does not make a difference as long as the meat does not stick to the pan while cooking. I have a stainless pan and it sticks a lot. I am not sure about your stainless pan. Cast iron might be the way to go.
Hi Yumiko,
I always look at Nagi’s recipe to have ideas on what to cook as I have been running out of ideas. I would have to look at all your recipes too 😊. I will try this Teriyaki chicken tonight, but I only have chicken tenderloins which I have already cut in to cubes. Hope that would still turn out ok.
Can I ask what is the best dressing to use for shredded cabbage? I was able to eat at a japanese restaurant overseas before (but not in Japan – would love to visit Japan someday). They have the shredded cabbage as a side but I dont what dressing they used.
Thanks in advance, thanks also to you and Nagi for sharing your yummy recipes ❤️
Hi Racquel, you might find that the tenderloin is a bit on dry side but it should still be OK as the sauce will compensate that.
As for shredded cabbage, I usually just use the teriyaki sauce on the plate to eat it because I am one of those who hardly need salad dressings. I often see people adding a dollop of mayonnaise、ponzu dressing (please visit Japanese Dressings for the recipe). French dressing is good, too. This is assuming the dish is teriyaki chicken. If for example, shredded cabbage is there with pork schnitzel like my Tonkatsu recipe, I would use the sauce which is used for the tonkatsu.
Thanks Yumiko for your reply. We had the shedded cabbage on its own. It’s actually alright even without any dressing. Son and hubby had it as well. I will look at the Japanese dressings you mentioned as well. Thanks again ❤️
My brother suggested I may like this blog. He was once totally right. This put up truly made my day. You cann’t imagine simply how much time I had spent for this info! Thanks!
Thank you!
Just whipped this up for lunch this afternoon and it’s going on our list of favourites! So quick & easy to make – even for this novice home cook! Thank you.
Hi Rachel, that’s great. Thank you! Everyone gets a big surprise because it’s so easy and yet very tasty.
Made this tonight for dinner. The best teriyaki chicken I have ever made! Ever! I loved that the sauce wasn’t too sweet or thick. And that it was only 4 ingredients! 😊
Hi Sandra, that’s wonderful. I am so glad hear you loved it! Thank you very much for dropping a note.
So, I’ve made this a couple of times now, and it has passed the wife test each time (thank you…thank you…thank you). This has become the “goto” teriyake recipe for our house.It’s quick, simple and good. Perfect for a quick yummy meal when you get home tired, and worn out and realize that you still need to get dinner on the table.
Thank you so much for the excellent recipes.
You are so right to say that the recipe like teriyaki chicken is a great recipe for hard working busy people. It’s good to get your wife’s approval, isn’t it?
Hello again!
I don’t know how can I thank you again Yumiko!
I have been trying your several recipes and they are all successful!
The sauce is better than store bought and ingredients are so simple.
I could not find cooking sake so I bought regular drinking sake but it works great!
Thank you!
Hi Soo, thank you! Drinking sake is perfectly OK to use in cooking. Cooking sake contains a small amount of salt so substituting it with drinking sake would be less sodium and healthier.
Made this last night. Both my husband and I inhaled it. I did let the sauce reduce too much, much to our dismay. So next time, double the sauce content and that will make everyone happy.
Hi Pia, glad to know that you both liked it. Next time when you make double the amount of sauce and end up with excess, you could place sliced teriyaki chicken on cooked rice and power some sauce over it. Then it will become Teriyaki chicken-don. The rice flavoured with the teriyaki sauce is really yummy.
Hi Yumiko, We had this last night for dinner and was delicious so will now be a favourite, hubby loved it and so did I so yummy thanks for sharing your recipes as I am a fan of Nagi also.
Hi Kristine, it’s so great to hear that both of you loved Teriyaki chicken. Thanks for the feedback.
I am making this tonight and can’t wait as it looks delicious thanks so much for sharing it will let you know the outcome Yummo 😀
Hi Kristine, please do let me know how it went.
made this last night, it was amazing, very simple yet flavourful😀. I followed your serving size and my husband was complaining coz he wanted more! Thank you for the recipe!
Hi Kay, great to know that you and your husband liked Teriyaki Chicken. Japanese portion tends to be small compared to the Western dishes. But, it might be the healthier portion.
Made this twice this week and it was delicious!
Love Japanese food especially teriyaki chicken!
Thank you for sharing your yummy recipe, Yumiko. 😊
I’m also a big fan of Nagi’s blog and recipes. 😁
Hi Maggie, I just realised that I had not replied to you. I am so sorry.
Twice a week? You must be really fond of teriyaki chicken! I am glad that you like it and thanks for supporting Nagi’s blog, too.
Hello from Vancouver, BC, Canada! I’m excited to try this recipe! I was at the grocery store and noticed they sold Mirin Style Seasoning. Is this the same as Mirin? Would I get the same results with this, or should I go to my local liquor store to purchase Mirin? I’m going to be there anyway, as I need to get some Sake for this recipe.
Hi Jennifer,
I’ve been to Vancouver few times and love the place. In fact, Vancouver was another city we considered migrating to. I didn’t mind it as I love skiing.
Other than the processes of producing mirin and mirin style seasoning, major differences between the two are that mirin style seasoning contains some salt (about 1.6%) and alcohol % could be much less. So, you can use mirin style seasoning instead of real mirin without changing the flavour. But if you use real mirin, the sauce will probably come out a little bit shinier. It is also good to eliminate smell of chicken meat .
Hi Yumiko, thanks for sharing your recipe. Can’t wait to try this. I was thinking of cooking this as part of a buffet and was wondering if it can be cooked in advance and reheated successfully?. Thanks
Hi Emma, yes you can. Reheat the cooked chicken just hot/warm enough. The flavour would not be degraded after reheat.
I served this recipe along with rice and stir fried vegetables. My family inhaled the teriyaki chicken, leaving me to eat the stir fry. I wanted to cry tears of joy. Finding a dish my entire family will eat is an epic adventure. My youngest in particular is so picky his picky is picky. Plus as a working mom getting dinner on the table in a reasonable time during the week is another layer to the epic adventure. I look forward to trying your other recipes. Thank you.
Hi, thank you so much to drop me a wonderful note. You made my day!
I made this once right after it was posted to /r/gifrecipes on reddit and it was delicious, but what really bugged me was how that crispy chicken thigh skin gets all soggy after steaming under the pan lid. I gave it another go tonight with some technique modifications that create minimal extra cleanup. The result is what I think is a PERFECT dish that is better than anything I’ve ordered in an American Japanese restaurant.
First: I start the sauce separately in a small saucepan. I scale the amounts up to 1/3 each of mirin, sake, and soy sauce yet only put 1 Tbsp of sugar in. After reduction, between the mirin and sugar, there is more than enough sweetness I think. The reason for scaling up is because I’m working with 4-6 thigh fillets (16-28 oz. instead of the listed 12). Honestly, I might go up to 1/2 cup each or more next time so I have some leftover sauce. It’s a perfect addition to roasted or stir-fried veggies in any meal you make.
Second: After de-boning the chicken thighs, I pound them with a meat tenderizer until they are about 1/4 inch thick and then salt the skin side. This is important because after searing the skin side and flipping over, I do not add the sauce per instruction. Instead, after flipping the chicken, I splash enough sake in to coat the bottom of the pan and turn the heat down to medium-low without covering (water or chicken broth would be fine instead of sake). This allows the thighs to cook fully while uncovered without making the skin soggy (adding about 6-8 minutes of total cooking time). By the time the sake/water/broth fully evaporates, you have perfectly juicy chicken and skin that remains deliciously crispy.
By the time the chicken, rice, veggie side, and chicken are all done, my teriyaki sauce has reduced to that wonderful, silky consistency. I’ll plate everything, and drizzle the teriyaki over the chicken at the table for a little extra show. Oh, and I also top everything with freshly sliced scallions. That fresh, mild onion flavor compliments this dish so well.
Thank you so much for posting this recipe, Yumiko! Even with the modifications I’ve made, I’m blown away with how easy it is to prepare such a delicious dish in such a small amount of time. Thanks to that reddit post, you are now my primary source for home-cooked Japanese food. I can’t wait to try more of your recipes!
Hi, thanks for the details of your modified version. I agree that the skin gets soggy by placing a lid. But flavour is great and it’s so easy, isn’t it?
Great to know that my site is your primary source for Japanese home cooking. Thank you!
Hi Yumiko, I’d love to try this but could only find something called ‘cooking sake’. Is that what I should use for the sake or is it something totally different (it was in the Asian grocery store near the mirin). Thanks!
Hi Kelly, cooking sake is fine. When I say sake, I normally use cooking sake instead of drinking sake as it is much cheaper. The other differences are that in the case of cooking sake, salt is added to it. Also, unlike drinking sake, the liquid was not purified, retaining umami etc which are good for cooking.
Thank-you 🙂
What a recipe. Perfect first time.
This will be a regular dish for sure!
Thanks very much for sharing this recipe.
Hi Mark, that’s great! It’s so easy, right?
Question?? I looked up MIRIN and it says it’s a sweetened sake. Can I just use regular sake as it’s already in the recipe and add a bit of sugar to sweeten? Or is there really a difference. I couldn’t find MIRIN in any local stores.
This looks really good!!!
Hi Nana, Mirin is made from sticky rice while sake is from rice. They are also made in a different way resulting in different flavours. So you cannot completely replace mirin with sake + sugar but you could achieve similar sweetness of mirin. Taste will be slightly different but some people may find it’s OK. The other difference would be that the sauce will not be as shiny as the sauce made with mirin as it is one of the key characteristics of mirin.
To make 1 portion of mirin equivalent, you need to mix 1 portion of sake with 1/3 portion of sugar.
HI, What kind of pan did you use to cook in this recipe? Would a cast iron work?
Hi Jeanie, I used non-stick frypan but cast iron would work well, too. If the meat tends to stick on your cast iron, I would suggest that you oil the surface very lightly.
I made this chicken last night for dinner along woth rice and roasted broccoli. It was a huge hit with my kids. The sauce is fantastic. I wasn’t able to find the cooking sake, so I substituted cooking sherry, and it was wonderful.
Hi Amy, nothing is better than kids’ happy face at dinner time, isn’t it? I’m glad they liked teriyaki chicken.
Unless sake is one of the key ingredients such as ‘Sakamushi Fish (Steamed fish in Sake)’, sherry can be substituted for sake, particularly in the strong flavoured sauces.
Yumiko, this looks so good. I made your 2 sauces meatballs and now I will try this. I’ve been folllwing Nagi for about 6 months now. Love her recipes. So many different cuisines but I’m really looking forward to trying your Japanese recipes.
Nagi loves teriyaki chicken and she says my version is yummy. I hope you will agree with her.
Hi Yumiko!
Thank you for this amazing recipe. I cooked it for the first time a couple of weeks ago, and the family has been asking for it every day since. This is an excellent recipe to add to our regular rotation as it takes next to no time to prepare, and is soooooo full of flavour.
I am going to need to get some cooking sake to add to my pantry – I have been using Chinese rice wine as a substitution, which I thought worked well.
Thanks again for this wonderful recipe!
Hi Gloria, I am so glad that your entire family enjoyed it. Chinese cooking sake and Japanese one are different so you will probably find a subtle difference in flavour. But still yummy!
Hi Yumiko, Konnichiwa
Tried this recipe yesterday and it was delicious. I always wondered how the sauce had so much flavour.
Thank you so much for sharing your recipe with everyone. I like trying different recipes so I cannot wait to try another one of yours.
Konnichiwa Lee-san.
Wonderful! I am always nervous about what people think of my dish. So when I get a feedback like yours, I feel relieved.
Thanks for taking time to get back to me.
I just made your Teriyaki chicken, my whole family loves it! I Thank you for the opportunity so we can enjoy the flavors of Japan. I am a big fan Nagi’s blog, so happy you were introduced to the “blog” world!
Best Regards,
Hi Andrea,
Thank you very much for the feedback on Teriyaki Chicken. I am glad that your whole family liked it.
I’m embarking on a year of Japanese cooking and I started with your recipe for teriyaki chicken and miso soup. Both were failures but not because of your recipe. I made miso soup many years ago and it turned out beautiful. This time I made it with store bought dashi as I didn’t have all the ingredients to make my own stock (I will get them in time) but I live in St Louis and I have to go out of my way to find them). I also used the incorrect seaweed, it was roasted seaweed. I will attempt this recipe again but next time I will use the right ingredients.
I also made the teriyaki chicken. Again by mistake I bought bones less skinless chicken. I doubled the recipe as I had twice the amount of chicken needed. The taste was good but I didn’t have enough sauce left at the end of cooking time to drizzle over the chicken or cabbage. I look forward to your future recipe, hopefully I will learn with time.
Hi Anita,
It was my fault that I did not include the photo of wakame seaweed. I am sorry about that. The roasted seaweed is called “nori”. I just updated this post with a thumbnail photo of wakame seaweed.
It’s OK to use skinless boneless chicken.I would rather buy boneless so that I don’t need to remove the bones!
How incredibly exciting!
I LOVE your daughter’s blog (and your daughter herself!), and can’t wait to follow along with yours too. Really looking forward to finding out more about Japanese food, which I don’t know much about at all.
What a great recipe to start with! I love how simple (and yet tasty) it is. Definitely seems like a family ‘food trait’!
Hi Helen,
Thank you so much. I read comments to Nagi’s recipes so I know that you are a regular visitor and friend of Nagi and live in England. It would be great if you could try some of these dishes.
Hello Yumiko,
Can you please tell me how I can replace the alcohol?
Thank you
Hi Sameera,
If you can’t take any alcohol at all, it would be a bit difficult to substitute to any other ingredients. I would usually say ‘mirin’ to be the substitute but even miring has alcohol in it. My best suggestion would be to leave it out, especially when very small quantity is used.
If you are referring to Teriyaki Chicken recipe, replace sake with same amount of water, mirin with same amount of water plus sugar which should be half quantity of mirin. This sugar is in addition to the sugar listed in the ingredients.
So that you know, sweetness of mirin is about the same as 1/2 quantity of sugar.
So happy to have found your blog I am very much looking forward to learning about Japanese cuisine. Thank you.
Hi,
Thanks for a note. I hope you will find my sit useful.
The pictures of the dish looks so good. I am definitely going to try this recipe as my husband loves chicken thighs and I love Teriyaki chicken. I have all the ingredients at hand too.
Hi Claire,
It sounds like Teriyaki Chicken has to be the one to cook. I hope you like it.
Congratulations! What a beautiful site. I love how fresh and clean/uncluttered your site is. Your photos are the best of any of the sites I have visisted, and that’s saying a lot.
Hi Mary,
Thank you so much for kind words about my site!
I guess Japanese look automatically makes it look simple.
Wow, I’m very excited about your new blog, Yumiko! I’ve always wanted to learn authentic Japanese cuisine.
A couple questions about the sake…what kind is best for this recipe? I’ve seen different types at the store and it makes my head spin. I’m assuming there are dry, sweet, etc. Also, what could I substitute if I don’t have sake readily available?
Hi Moni,
Fo home cooking sake, you can buy a bottle of cooking sake which is much cheaper, instead of real drinking sake. Cooking sake should be sold at Asian/Japanese grocery stores or even at supermarket.
Drinking sake comes with ranges of sweetness and dryness. I would use dry sake if you were to use drinking sake.
In the case of Teriyaki Chiken, you could substitute sake with dry cherry or mirin. But if you are using mirin, reduce sugar to half as miring is sweet. You can also buy miring at Asain/Japanese grocery stores.
Welcome to the blog world, Yumiko! I love Nagi’s blog and I know that I will love yours as well! Japanese foods are among my favorites and I am looking forward to your recipes! Your chicken teriyaki recipe looks delicious. Now I know why the sauce never adheres to the chicken. Too much oil! Thanks 🙂
Thank you very much, Pat.
I learnt the trick to remove excess oil from one of the Japanese cookbooks long time ago. It makes sense, doesn’t it?
Konnichiwa, Yumiko! I know it’s not proper to call someone by their first name but I feel like I know you. I am one of the “older” “mellow” women over 60. Yes, I also just recently started a blog and it was my children who insisted. Now ,I love! We enjoy Japanese cuisine although our blog is mostly about Italian cooking – my heritage. I’ve accused Nagi of being part Italian because she has some wonderful Italian flavored recipes. I’ve signed on to your blog and look forward to trying your recipes.
Konnichiwa Marisa-san. Piacere.
I am mentally 99% Aussie so please feel free to call me Yumiko. It is great to keep you busy even after reaching to a retirement age, isn’t it? I am relying on this blog to prevent my brain cells dying too fast
I love Italian food. I can eat pasta every day! I must regularly visit your site.
Ciao
How wonderful to see that you now have a blog…. Nagi’s comments about you always make me smile..
I love reading and trying her recipes and I look forward to enjoying what you present to us..
Teriyaki Chicken is a great place to start as the thighs are our favorite part of the chicken… :O)
Hi Ross,
Nagi enjoys making fun of me but then I read the story and I also smile.
It is clear that you love food. Depending on how you cook, thigh and wings are the best part of chicken, in my view.
I hope you try Teriyaki Chicken.
This dish sounds lovely and is on my list of got to try recipes.
I hope you don’t think me rude but in the notes on note 2 it says the sickness of thighs instead of thickness.
Hi Tiff,
Thanks for letting me know of the spelling mistake. I just fixed.
It is not rude at all. I always ask my children to correct my English as it is not my native language and I do get corrected even after living in Australia over 30 years! That’s the only way to improve.
I hope you enjoy Teriyaki Chicken.
Yumiko, I couldn’t be more pleased to see your recipes in your very own blog. We’ve admired Nagi’s for so long and I know how much you have influenced her love of cooking.
This teriyaki chicken will be served at my house soon!
Hi Maureen. How’s your back? I hope all is going OK.
Thanks for your kind words. I must admit, though, Nagi goes way beyond me in many aspects and I admire her for that.
I hope you enjoy Teriyaki Chicken!
Konnichiwa Yumiko and welcome to blogging. I love Japanese food and will be really pleased to have authentic recipes.
My daughter spent 3 years teaching English in Japan and her favourite recipe was Okonomiyaki. Unfortunately she is no longer with us, due to cancer.
We have been very lucky recently to have a Japanese Food store (Daiwa Food) opened right near us, so now have the opportunity to buy authentic products as well.
Thank you for agreeing to share your recipes with us.
Sandi
Daiwa Food
Konnichiwa Sandy-san.
I am so sorry about your daughter. Nothing is worse than your child going before you.
Okonomiyaki is one of the recipes in my future posts so please keep an eye on it (it might be a while, though). All my children including Nagi love it and of course, I love it, too.
A Japanese food store near your home! I envy you! If you have any questions about Japanese groceries etc at Daiwa Food, please feel free to drop me a note.
Hello Yumiko: I am another traveller from Nagi;s blog absolutely thrilled to have found you ! Altho’ European-born over 70% of my daily cooking is Australian-Asian fusion . . . and tho’ I have been to Japan over 30 times I have to admit that Szechwan, Vietnamese and Indian/Sri Lankan are my main fields of expertise – so am here to be taught !! You already have – yes, I often make teriyaki dishes but yes, I do usually marinate for 30-30 minutes . . . shall promptly try it your way. Have looked at your previous recipes and am thrilled to have found your blog! Your children were do tight to encourage you!
Hi Eha. You’ve been to Japan 30 times?! Even my kids haven’t been there that many time. What’s your favourite Japanese dish?
I am glad that my recipe can introduce you to a different way of cooking and still yummy.
Yumiko: take me to Kyoto and its old traditional cooking and I am a very ‘happy camper’! Simple but so elegant! Oh, the trips were over a couple of decades of business, but my husband and I absolutely loved the country and fortunately made many friends at the time . . . . Mindsets and feeling-worlds can be strange. I am Estonian-born [in the Baltics south of Finland], and tho’ my former countrymen are oft not so enthused by Asian countries, Japan seems to be a second ‘home’ to many: quite a few Estonian poets even write in Japanese format . . .
Eha, I love Koyoto cuisine as well. Actually, I love Japanese food from all parts of Japan!
It is in deed interesting that quite few Estonians are fond of Japan. I must visit Estonia one day.
Hi Yumiko! Welcome to blogging I see that the first commenter on here is also a Dee but I did JUST subscribe to your blog. Nagi speaks of you often and I will say that a Mum’s cooking is always a litlle better no offense intended cause where else do we girls learn our craft but at your feet so to speak. Good luck
Hi Dee. Thank you for subscribing to my blog!
Mum’s cooking is always better as they are many many years ahead of kids with lots of practices to perfect home cooking to suit to the family. That’s how I see it.
Congratulations and thanks for sharing your Japanese recipes. I have not tired many dishes but am now dying to start with the Teriyaki Chicken and more.
Thank you! Please do try many dishes and see if you like it and Teriyaki Chicken would be a good one to start with.
Welcome to the blogging world, Yumico. I look forward to making some ‘proper’ Japanese recipes. I especially enjoyed reading the Etiquette of Japanese eating.
Hi Dee. Thank you. I hope Japanese Eating Etiquette would be of help to some people. I took my Aussie friends to Japan and saw them struggle how to do things in Japanese way so I thought this might be useful.
Congratulations! Good luck in your new endeavour. I haven’t eaten very much Japanese food so perhaps this is a good place to start.
Don’t listen to Nagi when she suggests your are getting old, we do not get old, we just get better.
Thank you very much, Ann. I would be delighted if my blog could introduce you Japanese food. If you like slightly sweet soy flavour, this Teriyaki Chicken would be a good one to try.
I agree, we just get better and wiser.
Like FINE WINE…..??? 😉
Can I make one suggestion – make the font for comments bigger? The text is gray and very small, so not so easy to see. Thanks!
I mean for writing comments. The comments once accepted are bigger and read fine. 🙂
Excellent.
Hi Barb ,I agree. I will look into it.
Congratulations on your food blog, Yumiko! I’m a big fan of Nagi and will be of you, too, I’m sure! The chicken looks great – so moist!
Thanks a lot, Barb.
Mum – you need to change your footer to “Copyright C 2016 RecipeTin Japan” 🙂
This looks exactly how it’s served in Japan! Thanks for sharing this mum 🙂 I know the one I shared has stronger flavours than this, I needed this traditional recipe!
Looks great isn’t it? And really yummy as you know.
Ohayougozaimasu Yumiko san 😀 How exciting!! I have been subscribing Nagi san’s new letter and read this great news. All photographs are so beautiful and look delicious! I am going to read through all of your recipes today 😀
Hi Shihoko-san. Thank you very much. Like you, I got a one-day lecture from Nagi on how to take photos. After that was a try and error with frustration. But when Nagi says “good photo, mum”, I can smile.
We are so lucky to have Nagisan’s one on one session 😀 lately, my photo looks under exposed… going back to Nagi san’s photo book this weekend.
I will surely try this, but a suggestion: please print the weight in pounds (for all your American friends) as well as grams….. Thanks!
Good point Joanne!!! 😉 I’ve been teaching her “how to blog” – missed that!! N xx
Yes, you failed to remind me. I will update all the recipes as soon as I can.
Hi Joanne. Yep, I will add US measurements as soon as I can. Thanks for reminding me. I was telling myself at the easier stage of preparing for this blog site that I must add US measurement. But alas, I lose reminder notes in my brain a lot these days. I must physically write it done on a notepad from now on!
Congratulations on launching your blog! I’m looking forward to learning proper ways to prepare Japanese dishes. I’m looking forward to trying this dish soon.
Hi Dora. Thank you so much. Some dishes are so easy yet cooked in the proper Japanese method like Teriyaki chicken here. Enjoy.
Hi Yumiko. I’m glad to see you posting real Japanese recipes. I know it will help me to appreciate Japanese food more than I currently do. I love how simple this teriyaki chicken is and am looking forward to making it. Since I really enjoy Nagi’s blog, I’m looking forward to seeing your recipes.
Hi Susan. Thank you very much. There are quite few dishes which might look difficult to make but actually very simple yet yummy like this Teriyaki chicken. Hopefully, I can gradually introduce some easy dishes in future.
Konnichiwa Yumiko! First off, no I don’t speak or understand Japanese…your lovely daughter Nagi posted it on her blog today! This dish sounds wonderful, I almost always use chicken thighs because they are juicier and tastier! I am so excited about your blog! Nagi and I have become good friends, in fact we spoke on the phone yesterday arranging to meet in November. Our birthdays are two days apart! She is such a kind and caring person, obviously much to your credit! I look forward to looking at (and cooking) your recipes!
Konnichiwa, Dorothy-san. I always read your comments to Nagi’s recipes so I feel like I already know you. Thanks for dropping by. I like chicken thigh, too. Actually all my kids also like chicken thigh better than breast for the same reason. It would be great for Nagi and you to meet! I was talking to Nagi several weeks ago and said it would be wonderful for her to meet with you when she was in the US. So it sounds like it is going to happen.
Teriyaki chicken is so easy to make. Please try.
Welcome to the blogging world Yumiko. I’m glad your children.. (especially Nagi?) convinced you to do this. As a child, I can totally relate to them because I too wished my parents and even my grandparents would pass down their recipes in the most systematic way and not just simply telling us vaguely how much of this and that to put in that ‘how did you make this taste so good’ dish . ?
This teriyaki chicken looks out of this world, and the sauce cannot be any easier. It now does not makes sense to buy the commercially sold sauce… or even order this from restaurants. Nice! Have fun with the blog and I look forward to more delicious recipes.
‘Convinced’? I felt like I was tricked but I am happy that I started this blog. This keeps me going, making my brain work hard. My home cooking is also based on my memory of taste and I never wrote down the quantity of each ingredients. You add approximate amount of seasoning and taste it few times to get to the flavour of the food you remember. So jotting down to the exact amount of each ingredient to write up a recipe was a bit of an effort for me. But I started getting used to it now.
Enjoy Teriyaki chicken. It’s great.
How lovely! Mother and Daughter Recipe Tin recipes! So excited to see both!
It’s so nice to be able to share and learn about the best things in life (delicious foods on our tables) with new friends literally around the world!
Kindly —
Nadine — Adirondack Mountains, New York State!
Hi Nadine, thanks a lot. It is indeed exciting for me to be able to share my home cooking recipe. And receive so many comments!