The Best Crispy Japanese Teriyaki Chicken

This delicious Japanese teriyaki chicken is made with succulent, skin-on chicken thigh coated in a glossy, sweet and sticky homemade teriyaki glaze. Not only does it taste incredible, but it's ready in just 15 minutes, no marinating necessary!

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Jump to:

• What is teriyaki chicken?
• Ingredients to make this authentic teriyaki chicken
• Instructions on how to make chicken teriyaki
• Start with a cold pan
• What other things can I cook with teriyaki sauce?
• Watch our video for how to make Japanese teriyaki chicken
• Step by step recipe
• FAQ
• Community feedback

What is teriyaki chicken?

Teriyaki chicken is arguably one of the most well known Japanese dishes in the world, and for good reason! Juicy chicken thigh with crispy skin and a sweet and sticky soy sauce based glaze, what's not to love?

Despite the popularity of the dish, the word "teriyaki" is often a little misunderstood.

What is Teriyaki? It's technically not a sauce!

Teriyaki (照り焼き) is actually not the name of the sauce itself, but instead a Japanese method of cooking meat or fish in a sweet, glossy, soy sauce based sauce. Technically "teriyaki sauce" and "teriyaki" are different things.

In Japanese, the word "teri" (照り) means gloss and "yaki" (焼き) means to cook or fry. Because sauces used for teriyaki contain sugar, the sugar melts and makes it into a glaze, almost like caramel. Cooking while coating it with teriyaki glaze has the effect of locking in the flavor and the technique is similar to kabayaki (which is more or less the grilled version).

Incidentally, "teriyaki sauce" sold outside Japan is often soy sauce-based but without mirin or sake, and may be a barbecue sauce with spices and other ingredients not used in Japanese teriyaki. In other words, there is a divergence in definition between teriyaki in Japan and teriyaki in the rest of the world.

It is not known when teriyaki as a cooking method was born, but considering that kabayaki was created in the 18th century, when soy sauce was developed in the Kanto (Eastern Japan) region, it is safe to say that this cooking method was already in existence around the 18th century as well.

Authentic teriyaki chicken isn't marinated

I do realise, it's common to use pre-made teriyaki sauce or marinade to make teriyaki chicken outside Japan. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with it. However, the authentic way does not use pre-made sauce or marinade because teriyaki is not considered a sauce, but a cooking method.

The four vital ingredients used in the "teriyaki method" are soy sauce, sake, mirin and sugar.

I will explain more about it later and in the recipe card at the bottom of the page.

Making authentic teriyaki chicken without pre-made sauce

You might be surprised to know that you can't really find pre-made teriyaki sauce in Japan. Soy sauce, sake, mirin and sugar are all typical cooking ingredients Japanese people generally have in their cupboards. Because of this, there's really no need to buy pre-made sauce in Japan!

Of course there are variations that add other ingredients too, but these are the four key ingredients that are absolutely essential to make teriyaki sauce. I don't recommend omitting or substituting any of these!

Ingredients to make this authentic teriyaki chicken

• Chicken thigh (boneless skin-on)
• Salt
• Potato starch or cornstarch
• Cooking oil
• Soy sauce
• Mirin
• Sake
• Brown sugar
• Liquid dashi (or water)
• Honey

Let's look at a few ingredients in more detail so I can explain why I use them.

Chicken thigh

Okay this is really down to preference, but for the best results I definitely recommend using boneless, skin-on chicken thigh when making teriyaki chicken.

Not only is it juicer and has better flavour, but the skin becomes crispy and that combined with the teriyaki glaze... well, you can't beat it! Boneless thigh is quicker to prepare and cook too.

Potato starch (or corn starch)

You might see potato starch on the ingredient list and assume it's to thicken the sauce. Well actually, that's not why I use it here.

I actually use the potato starch for "dredging". The term "dredging" means to coat your meat with a thin layer of flour of starch before cooking and it is one of my favourite techniques used for sauce-based meat dishes. There are a few reasons why this method yields superior results:

• The outside of the meat becomes lightly crispy
• The colour becomes more golden
• More flavour is absorbed on the surface
• The sauce sticks to the surface better

I only dredge the underside of the chicken thigh in this recipe as the skin becomes crispy enough through drying and frying.

Dashi

Anyone familiar with Japanese cooking will know that we often create umami and depth of flavour in many dishes using a type of stock called "dashi". Dashi is most commonly made with ingredients such as kombu (dried kelp), katsuobushi (bonito flakes) and shiitake mushrooms. (If you're interested, check out my homemade dashi recipe here!)

It's certainly not traditional to use it for teriyaki, but it really adds extra depth of flavour to the sauce.

If you cook Japanese food often and have leftover dashi in your fridge, be sure to add it in! And if you have dashi powder, you can mix a small pinch with some water.

Note: Dashi is definitely not essential for this dish and can be substituted with plain water to maintain the same consistency.

Instructions on how to make chicken teriyaki

Follow these steps for the perfect teriyaki chicken! I also include tips and tricks along the way. For ingredient quantities and a simplified version of this recipe, check out the recipe card at the bottom of the page.

Make incisions

Chicken thigh is quite thick so to ensure it's evenly cooked all the way through, I like to make horizontal cuts on the thickest parts and then fold them out.

Simply turn the chicken over so that the skin is facing down and cut the thickest parts of the underside to make flaps that you can pull out.

If you make a diagonal/horizontal cut, you should be able open out each flap and flatten out the chicken thigh, making it an even thickness all over. The larger surface area also ensures maximum flavour because more of the sauce is in direct contact with the chicken.

Pierce the skin

The skin acts as a barrier so to ensure the flavour can reach the top of the chicken meat, I stab the skin side all over using a fork. This way, the teriyaki sauce can penetrate the meat making it juicer and more flavourful all over.

After piercing the chicken, sprinkle a pinch of salt on both sides.

Dry the surface

Patting the surface of the chicken dry before cooking results in a crispier skin that helps the sauce to stick better.

Dredge the underneath

I mentioned in the ingredients section, but after drying the surface of the chicken with kitchen paper, I coat the underneath with a thin layer of potato starch.

This improves the colour, flavour and helps the sauce stick better to the underneath!

Start with a cold pan

The next step is to drizzle a small amount of oil into a cold pan and place the chicken in with the skin side facing down. Move it around in a circular motion to ensure the skin is evenly coated with oil and then heat the pan on medium for 7 minutes. Move the chicken from time to time to prevent burning.

I discovered this technique quite recently and I was pretty surprised, I always thought that you should thoroughly preheat the pan before adding oil or ingredients. However, I decided to try this technique with my teriyaki chicken recipe and now I can't go back! I started using it for other recipes too!

Gradually bringing up the heat allows the fat to render more slowly and makes the skin extra extra crispy! Not only does it create amazing texture, but the teriyaki sauce sticks better too.

Just note, this technique is specifically for skin-on chicken thigh, so if you're using skin-less or chicken breast, you should preheat your pan as usual.

Make the sauce

While the chicken is cooking, mix the soy sauce, mirin, sake, brown sugar, dashi and honey in a small bowl.

Flip and remove excess oil

After 7 minutes, flip the chicken over and fry it for 2 minutes. Use a sheet of kitchen paper to wipe up the excess oil in the pan. This is to prevent oil from mixing in with the teriyaki sauce.

Add the sauce

Turn up the heat to medium high and pour the sauce into the pan. Scoop it up and spoon it over the surface of the chicken. Do this continuously until the sauce has thickened. Occasionally move the chicken around in a circle to make sure the underneath is coated too.

This method of spooning the sauce over the top prevents the sauce from burning and ensures the top absorbs an equal amount of sauce as the underneath.

Rest and cut

Remove the chicken from the pan and allow to rest for a few minutes and then cut it into equal slices.

Finally, you can serve it up and enjoy! Teriyaki chicken is a versatile recipe that can be used in a whole variety of different dishes!

What other things can I cook with teriyaki sauce?

Teriyaki is most commonly used for chicken and fish (yellowtail is common in Japan) but of course you can use the technique for pretty much anything! Here are a few ideas:

• Salmon
• White fish (such as cod, sole, flounder etc.)
• Pork
• Beef
• Tofu

If you liked this recipe, you should check out some of my other teriyaki recipes too!

• Take-away Style Teriyaki Chicken Pizza
• Pan Fried Teriyaki Salmon
• Teriyaki Cod
• Garlic Teriyaki Chicken Donburi

I hope you enjoy this quick and easy teriyaki chicken recipe as much as I do! Let us know if you make it in the comments below!

Watch our video for how to make Japanese teriyaki chicken

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