Week 1 Recipe Winner: Teriyaki Chicken Thighs

I was super excited to make the Teriyaki Chicken Thighs recipe submitted by Elise Walter for our first week's recipe contest!

Like a lot of people, when cooking chicken at home, I almost always reach for chicken breast. I didn't even know what I was missing by overlooking chicken thighs-until I tasted this. The meat was tender, juicy and sweet, made even more amazing with the addition of a homemade teriyaki sauce.
We love teriyaki, and for years I've used a bottled sauce, with the intention of learning to make a homemade sauce...someday. Last Wednesday was that day!

But it gets better! The total cost for this recipe was only about $7. Chicken thighs are generally much more affordable than the chicken breasts and I purchased two packages for a total of $5. Easy, delicious, and inexpensive-what could be better?

I did alter the original Cook's Illustrated recipe slightly-for a few reasons. First, I didn't have mirin that the original recipe called for-that would have cost another $5-so I substituted rice vinegar. I also substituted 1/4 tsp ground ginger for 1/2 tsp fresh ginger. And I doubled the original sauce recipe (figures shown below are the doubled amounts) as we like our chicken extra saucy.

Additionally, after broiling the meat for the recommended 8-14 minutes, the chicken was still very pink inside. I turned the stove down to 350, and baked the chicken for an additional 15 minutes to cook through.

At first I was a little nervous about de-boning the thighs, but it turned out to be pretty simple. I'm sure you could also cook it bone-in to save time, just be sure to alter the cooking time accordingly.

Overall, an awesome recipe-and one that we will make again, as soon as chicken thighs are on sale. This may also become my new go-to teriyaki sauce recipe! :)

Ingredients

8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (see instructions on prep below)

table salt and ground black pepper

1 cup soy sauce

1 cup sugar

½ tsp grated fresh ginger

2 cloves garlic, minced (1 tsp)

4 tbsp rice vinegar

1 tsp cornstarch

Instructions

Position oven rack about 8 inches from heat source; heat broiler.

CHICKEN PREP INSTRUCTIONS:

Remove bone from thighs. Take your kitchen shears and cut along the bone, then work around it, leaving the thigh as intact as possible while extracting the bone. Trim excess fat. Leave skin on top of thigh, but trim any excess. Cut three diagonal slashes into the skin without piercing the meat. Tuck meat under skin and lightly flatten thigh to even thickness. Season chicken thighs with salt and pepper; set thighs skin side up on broiler pan (or foil-lined rimmed baking sheet fitted with flat wire rack), tucking exposed meat under skin and lightly flattening thighs to be of relatively even thickness.

Chicken should look like this for broiling:

Broil until skin is crisp and golden brown, 8 to 14 minutes, rotating pan halfway through cooking time for even browning.

Using a meat thermometer, check to see if thickest parts of thighs register 175 degrees on instant-read thermometer. If so, your chicken is done!

If not, turn oven off and allow it to cool for 5 minutes. Then reheat oven to 350.

Flip chicken skin-side down and bake for 12-20 minutes or until thickest parts of thighs register 175 degrees on instant-read thermometer.

Top of chicken after broiling:

While chicken cooks, combine soy sauce, sugar, ginger, and garlic in small saucepan; stir together rice vinegar and cornstarch in small bowl until no lumps remain, then stir vinegar mixture into saucepan. Bring sauce to boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally; reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until sauce is reduced to 3/4 cup and forms syrupy glaze, about 4 minutes. Cover to keep warm.

Transfer chicken to cutting board; let rest 2 to 3 minutes. Cut meat crosswise into 1/2-inch- wide strips. Transfer chicken to serving platter; stir teriyaki sauce to recombine, then drizzle to taste over chicken. Serve immediately, passing remaining sauce separately.