Feeds 4
The flavors of teriyaki are certainly Japanese in nature. However, teriyaki chicken—the dish popular with kids in sushi restaurants and adults all over America—is not traditionally Japanese. Instead, Japanese settlers in Hawaii combined traditional ingredients like soy sauce with local flavors such as pineapple juice and came up with a marinade for chicken. Teriyaki shops are all over Seattle, super cheap and generally great, and I can never have anything from them due to the wheat in soy sauce. But this one? Well, we can have this teriyaki chicken any time we feel like it.
Make the marinade. Add the tamari, white wine, mirin, pineapple juice, honey, ginger, sesame oil, and garlic to a blender. Blend until everything is well combined.
Marinate the chicken. Pour the teriyaki marinade over the chicken thighs and drumsticks in a large bowl. Make sure the chicken is completely covered. Marinate for at least 1 hour and as long as 12 hours.
Prepare to cook. Turn on the grill. Crank the heat up as high as possible. Pull the chicken out of the marinade, place onto the grill, and cook, turning occasionally, until the chicken has reached an internal temperature of 180°F, 10 to 12 minutes.
Or, if you don’t want to use the grill, preheat the oven to 425°F. Pull the chicken out of the marinade and arrange in a baking pan. Bake until the chicken has reached an internal temperature of 180°F, about 20 minutes. Serve immediately.