Saturday, October 31, 2015

Chicken Teriyaki

Every month, I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC) has a potluck. That means we get to choose any recipe we want from the collections of chefs that have been featured in the past six years.  That is not a small set of choices.  I went with chicken teriyaki from Nigella Kitchen.  I have owned the book for years, but haven't cooked from it very often. And in our household, anything teriyaki is a winner. It's a rare taste on which we can all agree.

What I like about Nigella Lawson's recipe is that it uses mirin (sweet rice wine) and soy sauce as a base with a little sake  and other ingredients thrown in. Some recipes I've tried have you start with bottled teriyaki sauce and mix in other ingredients.  I thought this recipe was cleaner and brighter. 

When I went to my favorite Asian market to purchase the sake and mirin,  I was surprised to fine a variety of sakes, at different price points and sizes. And frankly I had no idea how to choose.  It's different when I'm at a sushi restaurant and all I have to do is order small or large.

There was sake in elegant glass bottles, in jars with pop tops and even small aluminum cans (serve chilled!). I decided on a small bottle of mid-priced sake; the one with the  eye-catching red dragon on the label was the winner. 

 
The dish comes together quite easily, but leave enough time. There's a little chopping and marinating involved.  You can find the recipe on pages 38-40 of Nigella Kitchen (lots of pictures, not a lot of steps) or you can find it here.


To find out what other cooks came up with, look here.  It's worth it because there is quite a variety of yummy-looking dishes.

9 comments:

  1. I haven't made chicken teriyaki in ages. I will have to try this recipe.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Nigella is always a great place to start. I love both mirin and sake for marinating and sauces. Like you I just go for the mid-price and fun bottle when I buy sake. ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wow, a nice selection of Japanese seasonings you have there. I seldom cook Japanese dishes because getting mirin, sake, dashi, etc, can be quite a feat over where I stay. And once I get them, they might stay forever in my shelf. Haha.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I have a few bottles of Kikkoman brand condiments in my pantry. They make great teriyaki sauce and other Asian dressings. I agree with you that store-bought teriyaki won't be the same.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Like TeaLady said, I haven't made chicken teriyaki in ages either. I need to spice up my chicken dinner rotations.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Looks delicious! I've made this before and the family likes it too!

    ReplyDelete
  7. We haven't had teriyaki anything in ages. Now I'm hungry for it :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. I like Nigella recipes quite a bit. This is sure a winner!
    I owe you an apology because a comment you made a month ago went into my Spam folder. I just now saw it. Happy to hear we have so much in common with exercise, Peter Robinson books and cooking!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Chicken teriyaki is always a hit with my family too! This version is a lot nicer than using a bottled teriyaki sauce. Making your own homemade is always the way to go!

    Fun little shopping trip you had! I love to learn all about new ingredients. Sake shopping sounds fun!

    ReplyDelete