Teriyaki Chicken Thighs

This is another recipe from a book. Bento Boxes, by Naomi Kijima. I really wish I had first found this book when I was single and living on my own, because the recipes are good for small meals (not just bentos). This recipe is actually good for a family, too, because you get a lot of teriyaki marinade and can make up to two thighs with this.

I would like to take the time to point out that Japanese cooking seems to have four main seasonings: sake, mirin, shoyu (soy sauce) and sugar. If something is meant to be more sweet, use more sugar and less sake. More salty, us more shoyu. Less sweet, leave out the mirin. Pretty simple. I guess vinegar is pretty important in making sushi and pickles, but I don't like (and so don't make) sushi, and pickles are difficult (or so I'm led to believe.)

Usually I just serve this dish on a plate, but this time I had some lettuce I needed to use up, and surprisingly, the teriyaki sauce tasted great with it! I highly recommend serving your chicken on a bed of cold, crisp lettuce.

Chicken Thighs Teriyaki (from Bento Boxes, by Naomi Kijima)

1/2 boneless chicken thigh, skin on

1 Tbsp each mirin and soy sauce
1 tsp sugar
1/2 Tbsp cooking oil

1. Trim excess fat from thigh. Marinate in the mirin, soy sauce and sugar for 30 minutes. Drain, reserving marinade, and pat dry.

2. Cook the chicken in the oil, skin side down. When browned, turn and cook the other side.

3. Add 3 Tbsp water to the reserved marinade and pour over the chicken. Cover and simmer until cooked through. Remove the cover, [take out the chicken], raise the heat, and reduce the sauce to a glaze. [Slice the chicken into strips, arrange on a plate and then cover with the glaze.]

(The brackets are my 'additions', but the basic recipe is Ms. Kajima's)