Dinner Tonight - Teriyaki Chicken Bowl

Another Teriyaki Post...

http://myhomecookedmeals.blogspot.com/2011/04/dinner-tonight-teriyaki-chicken.html

 Teriyaki Chicken Bowl

This is one of my favorite dinners to make.  It's pretty easy and so tasty. The sauce I make for it isn't sweet and gloppy like you usually find at restaurants.  It's more of a Yakitori (skewered grilled chicken) Sauce. Teriyaki doesn't even exist in Japan, I believe it's something that Japanese Americans in Hawaii came up with.  I like to layer rice with pieces of nori (seaweed) dipped in soy sauce then top it with the chicken.  It's something that my mother used to make for me when I was younger:o)   

1st Layer of Nori

The photo doesn't look very appetizing because the nori is softened by the soy sauce then gets steamed by the rice, but once it's all eaten together it tastes really good!  I put another layer of rice and a layer of nori then top it with the chicken.

 Boneless Chicken Thighs 

I usally buy whole chickens and cut them up and then freeze them and also get packages of just thighs too.  I collect the bones in the freezer until I have enough to make stock.  I almost always have some chicken in the freezer, so I can make meals like this:o)

I marinated the thighs for about an hour in the teriyaki sauce I made.  It has soy sauce, sugar, mirin, garlic, ginger, ajishio, sake, dashi powder, worchestershire sauce, water etc.  It's a very unconventional recipe.  I figure the W Sauce is similar to using Fish Sauce in other Asian cooking;o) I know many people wouldn't feel comfortable with it, but I reuse the sauce over and over and then add to it.  After taking the chicken out of the marinade I cook it on the stove until it comes to a boil and let it simmer for about 10 mins.  As the sauce gets low, I add fresh sauce to it. This is how it is commonly done in Yakitori restaurants too!

When I only make a couple of pieces of chicken I bake it in the toaster oven.  It's so much easier than doing it in the oven.  I love my toaster oven!  I get so much use out of it since I don't have a microwave.  I bake it for about 35 mins @400 degrees.

After placing the cut up chicken on the rice layers, I put Furikake and sliced nori to finish it off.

Furikake

Love this stuff!  It's so good with rice!  It's basically a mix of nori, sesame, bonito flakes, sesame and seasoning.  They have a lot of varieties, but this one is my favorite!

Kimchi

I served this Kimchi with the dinner.  I love Kimchi, I can eat it with just about anything!  I've been making Napa Cabbage/Daikon Kimchi lately. It seems like mine come out lighter than most Korean ones, I'm not sure why since I use a Korean recipe;o)  My last batch came out to be about five 32 oz jars!  It goes really well with Teriyaki Chicken.