Japanese Favourite: Chicken Teriyaki

So I was over visiting friends in London last week. As usual with my foodie friends, the conversation turned to the various things we have cooked recently (my friends Orlaith & Marco loving to cook too). Orlaith asked me to find a teriyaki recipe & post it on my blog. So here it is! I have only had teriyaki once or twice before so was not completely au fait with exactly how it is supposed to taste & what exactly classifies as a "good" teriyaki sauce. However I did a good bit of research online & found that teriyaki sauce is surprisingly easy to make (or more importantly, difficult to mess up!) I served this will some crispy vegetable tempura (which I will blog the recipe to later) but you can easily just have some nice, fluffy rice as an accompaniment. You can also add some stir-fry vegetables to the pan before frying the chicken to add some depth and texture to the meal.

Ingredients:

3/4 Chicken Breasts or thighs

75ml Soy Sauce

75ml Mirin (Sweet Rice Wine)

75ml Sake (Optional)

2 tbsp Sugar

1 Clove Garlic (grated)

1 inch Fresh Ginger (grated)

Method:

• Mix the Soy Sauce, Mirin, Sake, Sugar, Ginger & Garlic in a bowl. Pour over the chicken breasts & leave to marinade for at least 30mins (the longer the better)
• Heat some oil in a frying pan. Drain the chicken and fry on one side until brown. 
• Lower heat and turn the chicken over. Add the marinade, cover the pan & allow the chicken to cook through. 
• Take off the lid & simmer until the sauce thickens. 
• Take the chicken out of the sauce and slice into 1 inch pieces & place on the serving plate. Pour a little of the thickened sauce over the chicken.
• Enjoy

3 Sauces to Brighten up any Meal 3) Red Wine Sauce

I have only started making this sauce recently but it is a rich & exquisite sauce that works amazingly with steak or pork. My personal favourite is to fry a sirloin steak and serve it on a bed of fried mushrooms and onions and then just drizzle the sauce over the top. Another option is to use some stir-fry beef pieces, add the sauce to them and then serve with couscous or rice. Again this sauce can be made in advance and either refridgerated or frozen.

Ingredients:

250g Shallots (finely diced)

1 Clove Garlic (crushed)

5 tbsp Balsamic Vinegar

400ml Red Wine

400ml Beef Stock

1 Knob Butter

Fresh Rosemary

Olive oil

Method:

• Fry the shallots in a saucepan over a high heat for about 3 mins until lightly browned, stirring often. Season with ground black pepper & add the garlic & rosemary. Cook for a further 3 mins, stirring often to prevent the shallots burning. 
• Add vinegar & cook until evaporated away to a syrup. 
• Pour in the wine & cook until reduced by two thirds. 
• Pour in the stock & bring to the boil. Turn down the heat & simmer until reduced by two-thirds again, (to around 250ml). 
• Remove the garlic & rosemary. 
• Add  salt to taste & stir in a knob of butter. 
• If serving with a steak, add any juices from the steaks just before serving. 
• Enjoy

3 Sauces to Brighten up any Meal 2) Barbeque

Now this is an amazing sauce. I always make a bit pot of it and freeze it so I can use it anytime I want. I owe this recipe to my Hungarian friend Viktor who first made it for me and I had to beg him for the recipe. It works wonderful as a marinade for chicken or ribs (a family favourite) or can be used as a condiment on the dinner table to add a bit of spiciness to any meal. This recipe makes a good quantity of sauce so you might want to half the quantities for your first try.

Ingredients:

470ml Tomato Ketchup

280ml Water

120ml Apple Cider Vinegar

5 tbsp Light Brown Sugar

5 tbsp Sugar

1/2 tbsp Fresh Ground Black Pepper

1/2 tbsp Onion powder

1/2 tbsp Mustard powder

1 tbsp Lemon juice

1 tbsp Worchestershire sauce

1 tbsp Chilli powder

1 tbsp Cayenne pepper

Method:

• Add all ingredients to a saucepan.
• Bring to boil. Simmer for 1 1/2 hour stirring frequently.
• Adjust the spice by adding more Chilli and Cayenne if desired.
• Enjoy
  

3 Sauces to Brighten up any Meal 1) Sweet & Sour

And now for something completely different.

Over the last while I have blogged "complete" recipes; that is, a full meal with meat, veg and sauce. However a lot of the time I cook for myself or family I usually just try to throw together whatever I have in the fridge/freezer and try to make it taste nice. That's why sauces are so important. They can turn a normal piece of chicken breast or steak into some extraordinarily. The best thing about sauces is that they can usually be frozen so can you can make a double the amount and just divide them into containers (I usually use the plastic takeaway cartons) and freeze them individually so that when you really aren't in the mood of cooking you can just defrost the sauce and save yourself the hassle.

Another thing I have found with sauces is that it can be hard to get the taste right. It sometimes can be too salty or too sweet or too bitter. A good tip is to think of these 3 tastes; salt, sweet & bitter, as 3 corners of a triangle. If you have too much of one corner, add more of the other two. For example: if your sauce is too salty; add some sugar and some lemon juice to counteract it. Similarly if it is too bitter and some salt and some sugar etc.

And so onto the sauces.

Sweet & Sour Sauce

The old favourite. We pick up the jar of Uncle Bens in the supermarket and throw it over our chicken not realising how simple (and cheap) it is to make this sauce at home. You use it add it to chicken or pork and serve with rice for a proper meal or simply use it as a dipping sauce for chips. The vegetables used in this recipe are just guidelines. You can use whatever veg you have lying around. You can also add chopped pineapple rings to give it a real fruity flavour.

Ingredients:

1 Carrot (cut into strips)

2 Peppers (cut into strips)

1/2 Red Onion (sliced)

2 Cloves Garlic (crushed)

1 tbsp Light Brown Sugar

2tbsp Rice Vinegar

2 tbsp Sherry (optional)

6 tbsp Dark Soy Sauce

150ml Chicken Stock

2 tbsp Tomato Ketchup

1 tbsp Cornflour mixed with water

Method:

• Fry vegetables for 3-4 minutes. 
• Add brown sugar & caramelize.
• Add vinegar, sherry, soy sauce, ketchup & stock.
• Bring to boil. Add flour/water mixture & simmer until thick.
• Enjoy