Chicken Teriyaki

Considering my Asian background, I really think I wouldn't do my culture justice if I didn't include some Asian-inspired dishes every once in while. I came across this teriyaki sauce recipe over the weekend and just had to try it. I know, it's a Japanese thing, and I'm Filipino. But hey, I'm broadening my Asian horizons.

Surprisingly, teriyaki is extremely easy to make.
You'll just need equal parts of these ingredients (the recipe says 2 tablespoons of each, but I doubled it because I had a few more pieces of chicken and I love extra sauce):

honey (or maltose)
dark soy sauce
mirin
sake (i used hot sake as opposed to cold)

Then for the chicken brine/marinade: (and once again, I doubled everything)

1/2 C water
2 Tbs dark soy sauce
2 Tbs dark brown sugar
2 Tbs mirin


4-6 skin-on filleted (boneless) chicken thighs (I used breast fillets and a few drumsticks)
As far as the recipe goes, like I said, it's extremely simple and straight forward, practically anyone can make it.

Combine water, soy sauce, brown sugar, and mirin in bag with chicken and let sit in fridge for about an hour or so.


When almost ready to take chicken out of fridge, combine honey, soy sauce, mirin, and sake, in small saucepan and bring to boil, but be careful not to let it get too crazy. You'll know it's done when it looks glossy. It won't be thick, but that's alright, the flavor is still there and that's what matters.


Take chicken out of fridge and prepare a hot grill. I love the char a grill gives chicken so that's why I chose to do it on the grill, but this can be done just as well in the oven.


When chicken is cooked on one side, flip over and baste with some of the teriyaki. Put on as little or as much as you'd like. This is your chicken so it's up to you how you like it. When ready to take off grill, drizzle other side with remaining sauce, or keep a little bit to dip chicken in.


And there you have it, Chicken Teriyaki so easy a caveman could do it... (I hope Geico doesn't sue me for that.)

Colombian Chicken Soup

So this is the first post. So I figured I'd start out with something light and refreshing. I posted on my Facebook status the other day that I was in the mood to make chicken soup. I got tons of responses asking me if I was sick. Why does wanting to make chicken soup have to mean you feel sick or ill? Hell, I just wanted it because it sounded good.

Well let's start out with what you need:

Short-Grain Brown Rice
Water
Salt
Skinless Chicken Breast
Scallions
Garlic Cloves
Ears of Corn
Cumin
Cilantro
Chicken Broth
Ground Black Pepper
Potatoes
Asparagus
Avocado
Fat-Free Yogurt
Capers

And On To The Action:

Personally, I like to get everything ready so I can just throw it all in and use it when it's called for. I Used to just prep as I went along, but I soon found out that it was a lot quicker to do the latter.

Anywho, put about 2/3 cups of the rice in a saucepan and put another water in to cover the rice. Bring to a boil, turn down the heat, cover the rice, and let it go for about 30 minutes or so, or until it tickles your fancy. When it's done, let it chill out without any heat for about 10 minutes, then salt it to your liking and let it be until it's needed.

Now for the magic, in a big pot, throw in the chicken breast(s) (the actual recipe calls for 1 skinless bone-in chicken breast, but I used 2 skinless boneless breasts instead because I had them on hand, you can do whatever), about 1/2 cup thinly sliced scallions (or green onions, whatever you wanna call 'em), 2 smashed cloves of garlic, 2 shucked and sliced ears of corn, 1/2 teaspoon of cumin, and some cilantro (actual recipe called for 1/2 cup, but Andy is sensitive to cilantro, sensitive meaning he's not too big of a fan, so I used about 1/4 cup to tone it down), and 8 cups of chicken broth (I took the easy way out and threw in 8 cups of water with 8 boullion cubes). Salt and pepper as you like and let boil, then simmer down low for about 12 minutes, or until your chicken no longer makes a peep. Take the chicken out of the pot and let rest until slightly cool, then shred it up. I did both thick and thin chunks, because I really like hearty pieces of chicken in my soup.

Then strain out the solids from the broth and discard everything except the corn (unless you don't like corn, you can throw it out, but why waste perfectly delicious corn, right?). Return the corn to the broth and bring that sucker to a boil again. Add about 1/2 lb. of cubed potatoes (I used red and peeled them, you can leave skin on if you like), and cook until just tender, 8 minutes. Then add 1/2 lb. chopped (1-inch thick) asparagus and heat for about 5 more minutes. Add chicken to pot, salt and pepper it up, and voila! You're done.


I "churched" it up a little and ladled the soup into the bowls, garnished the soup with some fresh cubed avocado, a spoon full of fat-free plain yogurt, a few capers (they add a punch that you don't expect), and a heaping spoonful of the brown rice.

Full recipe can be found here: Columbian Chicken Soup
Adapted from Food & Wine: May 2009 Recipe

And since soup clearly wasn't enough for Andy, his contribution was the grilled cheese...

... which I must say, was a good addition. There's nothing like dipping grilled cheese in soup =)