Teriyaki Chicken from America's Test Kitchen

Serves 2

Why This Recipe Works: For an easy and approachable chicken teriyaki recipe that would deliver juicy meat and crisp skin covered with a sweet and salty glaze, we needed to render as much fat as possible from the skin. We discovered that setting a weight on top of the chicken as it cooked (we used a saucepan and a couple of cans) helped to brown more surface area and pressed out most of the fat, for thin, ultracrisp skin. For the sauce, we found that simmering a quick mix of soy sauce, mirin, ginger, garlic, and sugar until thick and glossy made a bright, balanced teriyaki sauce that far surpassed any we could buy in a bottle. In step 1, weight the saucepan with a 28‑ounce can or two 15‑ounce cans. Serve with rice.

• 4 (5- to 7‑ounce) bone-in chicken thighs, trimmed
• Pepper
• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon mirin, sweet sherry, or dry white wine
• 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon cornstarch
• Pinch red pepper flakes

1. Wrap bottom of large saucepan with aluminum foil, then place 1 large can or 2 smaller cans inside. Pat chicken dry with paper towels and season with pepper. Heat oil in 10‑inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Lay chicken skin side down in skillet and weigh down with prepared saucepan. Cook chicken until skin is well browned and crisp, 10 to 15 minutes.

2. Remove saucepan and flip chicken skin side up. Reduce heat to medium and continue to cook, without weight, until chicken registers 175 degrees, about 10 minutes; transfer to plate. Pour off fat from skillet.

3. Meanwhile, whisk sugar, soy sauce, mirin, ginger, garlic, cornstarch, and pepper flakes together in bowl. Add soy mixture to now-empty skillet and bring to simmer. Return chicken, skin side up, and any accumulated juices to skillet and simmer until sauce is thick and glossy, 2 to 3 minutes. Turn chicken to coat evenly with sauce. Serve.

Our notes:

• We choose not to use vegetable oil. For this dish, we used avocado oil.
• We choose not to use cornstarch and tried coconut flour for a thickener.
• We use organic ingredients whenever possible (organic brown sugar, ginger, garlic, chicken, in this case.

April 2021