Chicken teriyaki: crisp skin, a glossy glaze, one pan
Boneless thighs go skin side down into a cold pan and heat up slowly: the fat under the skin renders out and fries the skin in itself until it turns glassy and crisp. The glaze of soy sauce, honey and ginger goes in only at the end, over almost-cooked meat, and reduces for 2–3 minutes. Poured in early, the sugar would burn long before the chicken was done.
Your own work in that: 30 min.
- Rendering the skin 15 min
- Finishing 10 min
- Glaze 5 min
Step by step
0 / 7 doneDry and season the thighs
Lay the thighs out flat and dry the skin with paper towel until it feels completely dry to the touch. Season both sides with salt and pepper. Put the rice on: it takes about as long as the chicken.
Ingredients: 700 g boneless chicken thighs, skin on · ½ tsp salt · ½ tsp black pepper
TipMoisture on the skin has to evaporate first, and while it does the skin cannot get hotter than 100 °C and nothing browns. Dry skin starts frying from the first minute.
Dry skin, salt on both sidesStart in a cold pan
Lay the thighs skin side down in a cold, dry pan — no oil. Turn the heat to medium-low and cook 12–15 minutes, pressing the meat with a spatula for the first minute so the whole skin makes contact. The fat will render out and pool in the pan.
TipThe cold start is the whole difference. As the pan heats slowly, the fat under the skin has time to render and becomes the frying fat itself; laid straight into a hot pan, the skin shrinks and scorches before the fat underneath renders, leaving a white, rubbery layer.
Cold start, a quarter hour, skin glassy and crispTurn and finish
When the skin is deep golden, pour off the excess fat (keep a spoonful), turn the thighs and cook the second side 6–8 minutes, to 74 °C at the thickest point. Without a thermometer: a knife tip lets out clear juices, not pink.
Second side, to 74 °C insideMix the glaze
In a small bowl stir the soy sauce, honey, sugar, grated ginger, crushed garlic and water until the sugar dissolves.
Ingredients: 60 ml soy sauce · 2 tbsp clear honey or mirin · 1 tbsp sugar · 1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated · 2 cloves garlic · 3 tbsp water
Soy, honey, sugar, ginger, garlicGlaze away from high heat
Turn the heat low and pour the glaze into the pan. It will bubble and thicken. Turn the thighs in it for 2–3 minutes, until the glaze coats the back of a spoon and trails behind the meat. Take the pan off the heat while it is still a shade looser than you want: it keeps thickening.
TipThe glaze goes in only now because sugar caramelises at 160 °C and turns bitter immediately after. Added at the start it would burn within minutes, long before the inside of the chicken reached 74 °C. Low heat at this stage is not caution but necessity.
Low heat, the sauce coats the spoonRest, then slice
Move the thighs to a board and wait 3 minutes before reaching for the knife: the meat settles a little and less juice runs out onto the board when you slice it. Slice across the grain into 2 cm strips.
TipKeep the glaze left in the pan over the lowest heat, or off the burner entirely — if it thickens too far, loosen it with a spoon of water.
Three minutes' rest, then cut acrossServe with rice
Divide the rice between bowls, lay the chicken strips on top and spoon over the rest of the glaze from the pan. Scatter with sesame and spring onion. The glaze sets as it cools, so serve at once; when reheating, add a spoon of water to loosen the sauce again.
Ingredients: 250 g rice · 1 tbsp sesame seeds · 2 pcs spring onion
Rice, chicken, the last of the pan glaze
Before you start
With breast
Pound chicken breast to 1.5 cm and fry 4 minutes a side, to 74 °C inside. There is no skin, so it needs a tablespoon of oil, and the glaze goes on exactly the same way over low heat.
With vegetables in the pan
Once the chicken is out, throw broccoli or green beans into the same pan and turn them in what is left of the glaze: the side dish makes itself, in the fat and sauce from the meat.
Glaze in advance
A double batch of glaze reduced in a small pan to a syrup keeps 2 weeks in a closed jar in the fridge. It suits salmon, tofu and minced cutlets.
