isithalal.food · Recipes

Chicken teriyaki, no mirin

Pan-glazed chicken thighs in a soy, sugar and rice-vinegar teriyaki sauce, with no mirin, no sake and a soy sauce you have checked.

Japanese · Main · Easy · 4 plates with rice · 30 min

Each method follows published technique for the dish, and every Halal substitution is checked against the ingredient pages we cite. Photographs come from our ingredient library rather than the finished dish.

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Why Halal checks matter here

Classic teriyaki sauce is soy sauce, sugar and mirin or sake, both rice wines; bottled teriyaki often lists one of them, and some soy sauces add alcohol.

Halal-critical ingredients

• Mirin and sake: Both are rice wines: mirin is a sweet cooking rice wine and sake is an intoxicating drink. Both are standard in traditional teriyaki. Neither in this method. Sugar and rice vinegar replace them. See Sake.
• Soy sauce: Brewed soy sauce carries trace fermentation alcohol that many scholars accept; some brands add alcohol as a preservative. A label with no added alcohol, or a Halal-certified bottle. See Soy sauce.
• Bottled teriyaki and rice vinegar: Ready-made teriyaki usually lists mirin, sake or wine; 'seasoned' rice vinegar can include mirin. Make the sauce here; buy plain rice vinegar. See Teriyaki sauce.
• Chicken: Poultry is Halal only when slaughtered Islamically. Halal butcher or certified pack. See Chicken.

Ingredients

Teriyaki sauce (no mirin, no sake)

• 60 ml (4 tbsp) soy sauce with no added alcohol, or a Halal-certified soy sauce
• 30 g (2½ tbsp) light brown or white sugar
• 15 ml (1 tbsp) rice vinegar (plain, not seasoned with mirin)
• 60 ml (4 tbsp) water
• 2 cloves (2 cloves) garlic, finely grated
• 10 g (1 tbsp) fresh ginger, finely grated
• 5 g (1 tsp) cornflour, mixed with 1 tbsp cold water (optional, for a thicker glaze)

Chicken and to serve

• 600 g (1 lb 5 oz) boneless chicken thighs from a Halal butcher or certified pack, skin on or off
• 15 ml (1 tbsp) neutral oil
• 4 portions (4 portions) cooked short-grain or jasmine rice
• 2 onions, 1 tsp seeds (2 onions, 1 tsp seeds) spring onions, sliced, and toasted sesame seeds

Method

1. Mix the sauce. Stir the soy sauce, sugar, rice vinegar, water, garlic and ginger together until the sugar dissolves. The sugar and vinegar do the job mirin does in a classic tare: sweetness, gloss and a little acidity. Do not add mirin, sake, cooking wine or 'aji-mirin'.
2. Brown the chicken. Pat the thighs dry. Heat the oil in a wide frying pan over medium-high heat and lay the chicken in, skin side down if it has skin. Cook without moving for 6–7 minutes until well browned, then turn and cook 4–5 minutes more.
3. Glaze. Spoon off most of the fat, lower the heat to medium and pour in the sauce. Let it bubble, turning the chicken often, for 4–6 minutes until the sauce reduces to a shiny glaze that coats the meat. If it is thin, stir in the cornflour mixture and bubble for a minute; if it catches, add a splash of water.
4. Check it is cooked. The thickest piece should be cooked through with clear juices, or 75 °C on a probe thermometer. Rest for 2 minutes, then slice.
5. Serve. Slice across the grain, spoon the pan glaze over, and serve on rice with spring onions and sesame seeds. Restaurant and bottled teriyaki are a separate question; see Teriyaki sauce.

Allergens

soy, gluten (most soy sauce), sesame (if using sesame seeds)

How this recipe was researched

Method specified editorially from the published soy, sugar and vinegar teriyaki technique (BBC Good Food Middle East) and the traditional soy-mirin-sugar glaze described on Wikipedia, plus this site's Teriyaki sauce, Soy sauce, Sake and Chicken pages. Timings follow published technique rather than a kitchen test.

Photograph from our ingredient library, not the finished dish.