Monday's Menu

 You may have noticed by now that I like Chinese food.

Okay, yeah. Who are we kidding? We all know that by now, right. In fact, we all know by now that I am nutso, loony about it.

And you probably remember that I stink, super stink, at making it. I seem to have no end of troubles with making Chinese food. Sauces just don't work out right. I totally gave up on fried rice. 

Okay, yes. I can make some wontons and eggrolls. But I'm from the south people (the real south) and the one thing I know how to do is FRY stuff. Anyhow,...

The biggest problem I seem to have in trying to make a Chinese sauce is that every recipe I come across is like mix together all this stuff  and then add about 5 cups of sugar. Perhaps I am being a bit dramatic. 

But not really. Why is the automatic response to making Chinese food that we should dump in a lot of sugar? I just don't get it. The sauces I try in the restaurants don't seem super sweet to me -- but maybe they are, after all?

One that I particularly had a hard time with is Teriyaki Sauce. The ones I've tried are seriously syrup sweet. But I've been enjoying this guy's recipe videos lately and one day he made a bento box. The protein was -- ta dah -- Teriyaki Chicken. So I looked at the recipe. 

While his does have sugar in it, it's not the overwhelming amounts that are usually in recipes. So I gave it a try. Everyone loved it. Even my hardest sells thought it was quite good. Definitely keeping that recipe.

You can find the original here. I didn't have chicken thighs so I just grilled breasts and brushed the sauce on when they were done. It left me plenty of sauce too to use for dipping or for grilling a few more the next day. So give it a try.

Teriyaki Chicken

1 teaspoon oil (sesame oil if possible)

2 cloves garlic, thin sliced

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup white vinegar

1 teaspoon corn starch

2 teaspoons water

4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs

In a sauce pot, add enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Add the garlic and saute until it is golden. Mix in sugar, soy sauce, and vinegar. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer until it has reduced about 25% (about 3 minutes). In a small bowl, mix together corn starch and water to make a slurry. Add to simmering sauce, whisking well until glazy consistency. Pass through a strainer and reserve liquid.

Grill chicken until it reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees. Brush chicken with sauce. Flip chicken over. Brush chicken with sauce again. Remove from heat and serve warm.