Chicken Teriyaki (鳥照り焼き) is a lunchtime staple in Japan, filling bento boxes being carted off to offices and schools alike. Teri refers to the lacquered sheen that teriyaki sauce develops on the surface of the chicken, while yaki means grilled. Almost any cut of chicken can be used, but chicken teriyaki is most commonly prepared with the leg meat (thighs or drumsticks) which is deboned to ensure it cooks evenly. The skin is left on the chicken to keep the meat moist, and it takes on a wonderful caramelized hue while getting slightly crispy as it grills.
Long before sushi became the ambassador of Japanese cuisine to the rest of the world, 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 allure 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.
It's not that I have anything against those fancy sweet soy marinades with ginger, garlic, chili, green onions, sesame seeds, and or fruit puree in them, but sauces with these ingredients aren't teriyaki sauce, since they cloud the teri. Ginger, sesame seeds, green onions, and chili are garnishes that are occasionally added after the chicken has been cooked.
Traditionally, the unseasoned chicken is grilled over coals, then basted with teriyaki sauce. To tenderize and season the chicken all the way through, I brine it first in soy sauce and sugar, grill it, then shellac a few coats of teriyaki sauce on to finish. This seems to get the best balance of color, texture and flavor. I've written the directions for a broiler, but just reverse the cooking order (skin up, then down) if you are using a grill.
By using maltose or honey in the teriyaki sauce, the sauce gets thick without having to add any cornstarch. If you do use honey, make sure you use one without a strong flavor of its own. By the way, if you prefer making this in a pan, I have a stovetop teriyaki chicken recipe you can check out for the details.
Serve this chicken teriyaki whole, or chopped up on a bowl of steaming hot rice with some extra sauce.
📖 Recipe
Units
Ingredients
for brine
- ½ cup water
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons mirin
- 4 - 6 boneless skin-on chicken thighs
for teriyaki sauce
- 2 tablespoons honey mild flavored
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons mirin
- 2 tablespoons sake
Instructions
- Combine the water, soy sauce, brown sugar, and mirin in large zipper 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, 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.
vrouwtje says
what is sake?
Marc Matsumoto says
It's not going to get as thick as the bottled sauces, but you should still be able to get it thick enough to coat your chicken. I know I said saucepan in the recipe, but try doing it in a fry pan or something with more surface area so you burn off the liquid faster. I included a time progression of what the sauce should look like in this post on PBS: https://www.pbs.org/food/fresh-tastes/salmon-teriyaki/
Jamie says
I tried this for the 2nd time tonight, still can't quite get the sauce right it always turns out too runny. How can I make it so that the sauce is thicker or more glossy as you would say??
Marc Matsumoto says
Overnight would be be fine, it just means more flavor will soak into the meat.
Mike Gargano says
Hi, I was wondering how long you can marinate for, possible to leave over night?
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Leah, you can see all my Japanese recipes here: https://norecipes.com/blog/recipe/japanese/
leah says
Good afternoon Mr.Marc. Im a filipina and I dont know how to cook japanese menu.Can you send some easy recipe to my email.Thanks you and God Bless you sir.More Power.
Marilia says
this is the type of teriyaki chicken that is best for Asian taste... I tried this cooking in my resort in Mindoro Bali Beach Garden Resort and my guests like this!!! thumbs up !!Thank you
saeko says
Dear Marc,
My first SUCCESSFUL attempt at teriyaki...domo arigato gozaimashita. I am a third generation Japanese American and you are helping to bridge the gap. I can't wait to try the next recipe....Sincerely, thank you. Saeko
Marc Matsumoto says
The Bobby Flay episode isn't online anywhere, but I found the Chopped episode on youtube. Just do a search for "Thyme Flies Chopped" on youtube and it should come up.
mirassi says
Marc your recipes were a hit! What a difference real sake makes as well. I tried the recipe on both chicken and beef and both were well received. I did end up adding a bit of garlic and ginger to the beef batch and made them as teriyaki kabobs on the grill. All in all, great simple but tasty recipe! Can't wait to try out your others and hopefully learn how to cook w/o a recipe. 🙂
Sidenote-- do you have any video clips when you were on "Chopped" or "Grill It w/BF?" I can't find a clip anywhere and would love to see you in action!
Marc Matsumoto says
Thanks! You could definitely use it with beef too. As for the cut, I'd recommend something tender with a lot of fat, hangar steak would probably be my #1 choice for a good balance of fat, flavor and price.
mirassi says
Hi Marc, I just found your site b/c I was looking for a no-fail authentic chicken and beef teriyaki recipe for my dinner tomorrow. Can I just say, your site is a goldmine! I can't wait to try out more recipes! That being said, could you also use the same brine and glaze recipe on beef? And what cut of beef would you recommend for beef teriyaki? Thank you so much! I look forward to hearing from you!
Eric says
Just made this according to your recipe (but using dark brown sugar dissolved in water in place of maltose or honey, neither of which were on hand). Really delicious!
Eric says
Just made this according to your recipe (but using dark brown sugar dissolved in water in place of maltose or honey, neither of which were on hand). Really delicious!
Marc Matsumoto says
You can bake the chicken, but the lower temperature won't get you the same results. If you don't have a broil setting on your oven, you could also pan-fry it in a hot skillet with some oil.
Rachael says
can you bake the chicken instead?
Rachael says
can you bake the chicken instead?
Marc Matsumoto says
It depends on how many chicken thighs you use and how hungry the people are. If you make 6 medium chicken thighs you should figure 1.5-2 thighs per person, so that would be 3-4 people. If you make 4, it would feed 2 people.
Tucancantu247 says
how many people does this serve?
Anon says
thank god I found this, I was searching for about 3 hours all over the recipe. Thank you so much.
Anees4 says
this is hard looking for the recipe
Kinako says
I made it as described but I added snow peas, carrots and parsnip when broiling. I basted the veg with the marinade to begin and clazed them after with the teriyaki sauce before putting it all over rice. Delish! Super recipe!!
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emagrecer says
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Marietta bankruptcy attorney says
Your foods are looking yummy! I think all of them are so delicious.
Marilia says
I'm gonna try it! The two things I miss more from Japan is teriyaki chicken and yakiniku.
Your blog is absolutely perfect... I'm trying to begin in food photography too 🙂
Jackr says
Looks and sounds delicious!
Jackr says
Looks and sounds delicious!
Luzaki says
i learn about teriyaki sauces i know it sweet not only just that the pefect thing is that by adding the food is being grill it smell good but but if we boil the salmon fish and put teriyaki sauces i thing it will be fantastic ko
Luzaki says
i learn about teriyaki sauces i know it sweet not only just that the pefect thing is that by adding the food is being grill it smell good but but if we boil the salmon fish and put teriyaki sauces i thing it will be fantastic ko
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Marc Matsumoto says
Mirin is sweet Japanese rice wine. You can substitute extra sake and extra sugar for the mirin, but substituting white wine for sake will change the taste substantially.
Cynthiamejia_roma says
What is mirin? Can I use any white wine instead of sake?
Marc Matsumoto says
To use a grill instead of a broiler, just reverse the cooking order (i.e. cook the skin side up first, then flip and cook the skin side down).
Lara says
Could you elaborate on how long you cook the chicken? Grill vs. broiler. Thanks!
Marc Matsumoto says
Adding fruit is not part of a traditional teriyaki recipe. That said, there's nothing wrong with breaking with tradition. As long as you don't puree the fruit, and you remove it from the sauce before cooking, it should still be clear and shiny, so I say go for it! As for making it sweeter, more honey or sugar should do the trick.
Kikicakes says
I know you talked about fruit purées clouding the taste, but I was told once by a Shogun's chef that their recipe tastes different than any other because they cube fruits (I know he said one was a type of melon- maybe cantelope?) and let them marinade for about 3 days with the other ingredients until the fruit is almost marinaded away. And that's why theirs is so sweet.
And the other places I've been just aren't sweet enough for me. Do you think I've just gotten used to a sweeter taste? Could I make your recipe with more honey?
(ps- store bought ones are just awful!!!)
Holly says
Made this for lunch today with steamed vegetables. My family loved it. Did the recipe exact except we did breast instead of thighs. This will be a remake for sure! IT was also very easy to make
Lisa says
Made this tonight - super simple and tastier than my mom's!
Lisa says
Made this tonight - super simple and tastier than my mom's!
Marc Matsumoto says
It will change the flavor quite a bit, but it will work.
Amanda says
I don't have sake, can I use chinese cooking wine instead?
Miniclip says
This was a really nice tasting Teriyaki recipe. Made the recipe exactly as stated. Thanks for a good recipe.
Miniclip says
This was a really nice tasting Teriyaki recipe. Made the recipe exactly as stated. Thanks for a good recipe.
Jacqui says
We made this on Saturday and it was just delicious. Very authentic, very very easy receipe, and tasted delicious. Will be a regular to our dinner table. Thank you for sharing
Jonno_001 says
No Chelle, you cannot use the teriyaki sauce you found in the grocery instead! Are you some kind of idiot? Who do you think you are?
chelle says
I found teriyaki sauce in the grocery, can I use that instead?
Marc Matsumoto says
You could replace it with water and sugar. Obviously not the same, but it's probably the best substitute.