Makes 4 servings
Ponzu sauce is an ingredient that’s easy to love. A mixture of soy and citrus — you buy it ready-made in supermarkets — the sauce can be used right out of the bottle as a marinade or salad dressing. It’s sharply citrusy and, because of the soy, packed with magical umami. Here it’s the base of a marinade that’s bolstered with rice vinegar, Thai red curry paste (sambal oelek or chili with garlic), a bit of sugar and more lemon juice, for more edge. You can marinate the chicken for as little as an hour or give it a day.
I use smallish skinless, boneless chicken breasts without the tenders, but the marinade is also good with chicken thighs, thin pork chops, tofu, tuna or swordfish (particularly when the fish will be grilled). Once the breasts are cooked and the remaining marinade has been boiled so that it can reappear as a sauce, the chicken is ready to serve as is or as the base of a salad, a wrap or a sandwich (see Choices).
Working Ahead
The chicken should be marinated for 1 hour at room temperature or up to a day in the fridge.
To make the marinade: Mix everything together in a zipper-lock bag or a bowl large enough to hold the chicken breasts. Taste and see if you’d like more of any ingredient — you might want a bit more heat. Drop in the breasts, turn them around to coat and seal the bag or cover the bowl. Marinate for 1 hour at room temperature. (The chicken can be marinated for up to 1 day in the refrigerator.)
TO MAKE THE CHICKEN: If you’ve chilled the chicken, take it out of the refrigerator about 30 minutes before you’re ready to cook.
Remove the breasts from the marinade — save the marinade — and pat them dry. Pour the tablespoon of oil into a large skillet, preferably nonstick, and warm it over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the chicken. It’s hard to know exactly how long it will take to cook through, but room-temp breasts should be good if cooked, uncovered, for 4 minutes on each side and then, covered, for another 4 to 5 minutes. Add a little more oil during cooking, if needed. Cut into the meat at its thickest part to test for doneness — it should be opaque to the center (and measure 165 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer).
Transfer the chicken to a plate, pour out whatever oil is in the pan and wipe the pan clean with paper towels (and caution). Pour in the reserved marinade and bring to a boil. Boil for 2 minutes, then pour the sauce over the chicken and serve, or into a container if you’ll be serving the chicken at room temperature.
Storing: The chicken and (boiled) marinade can be refrigerated, together or in separate containers, for up to 3 days. Both are good cold or reheated.
Choices: The chicken is delicious just out of the skillet, drizzled with the sauce and served over wilted spinach or with rice, quinoa or another grain. Or turn it into a lettuce wrap, cutting or tearing the chicken into bite-sized pieces; adding a few crunchy ingredients, such as grated jicama, shredded carrots, sprouts, cucumber and/or peanuts; and sprinkling everything with the marinade. Or channel Wolfgang Puck and his famous chicken salad, tossing torn-apart pieces of the chicken with thinly sliced Napa cabbage, carrots and fried wonton chips; I’d add orange or grapefruit segments too. (You might want to blend a little mayonnaise into the ponzu sauce in this case, to help hold the salad components together.) Not surprisingly, the chicken is great in the Luang Prabang Chicken-Chili Sandwiches.