Earlier, I posted my grandmother’s simple fried chicken recipe. As my grandmother was a 2nd generation Japanese American, she not only made fried chicken. My grandma’s 5 ingredient Teriyaki Chicken recipe is so simple.
Now, bear in mind teriyaki sauce in Japan is a bit more complicated. Apparently, there are other ingredients in the Japanese version (mirin and sake). This is the Japanese American version.
History of this Japanese American Recipe
My grandmother passed when I was 6. So I don’t know the history of this recipe. But I do know my grandmother and her family were all imprisoned in internment camps in California (Tule Lake) during WWII. As it were, she was of marriageable age at this time as she ended up meeting my grandfather (who was also interned as well) at the camps. And the rest as they say is history.
I’m assuming in my grandmother’s day there weren’t a lot of ingredients so you did what you could with what you had.
Hence, this recipe is incredibly simple with only 5 ingredients (including the chicken). And not on that, but it’s also very easy to make. You can marinate the chicken in the soy sauce mixture before hand. But you don’t need to and the recipe doesn’t call for it.
Grandma’s 5 Ingredient Teriyaki Chicken Recipe
Ingredients:
1 chicken-cut up into pieces
Soy sauce
Small piece of ginger
Garlic
6 heaping tablespoons of the Sweetener of your choice (Original recipe calls for sugar but I used Manuka Honey)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
- Wash and dry the chicken pieces.
- Cut up ginger pieces and garlic cloves.
- Stir soy sauce, sweetener, ginger and garlic in bowl.
- Press in each piece of chicken (both sides) into mixture with fork.
- Lay chicken flat onto baking dish with sides. Pour over remaining mixture onto the top.
- Bake at 325 degrees for about an hour and 15 minutes. Turn over every 15-18 minutes or so.
It doesn’t look like the sauce will be enough at first. The sauce starts to thicken the longer you cook it at low heat. Just remember to turn it.
Back in the Day Cooking Was more Intuitive than Now?
The other day I heard a YouTuber talking about how today we use recipes and measure exactly with a measuring cup. However, he mentioned in his grandmother’s day they didn’t use such precise measurements and would mostly cook on “intuition” . Looking at the way my grandmother wrote out her recipe, I can see how this is true.
Make sure to taste the sauce to make sure it’s sweetened to your liking. Remember that adding too much in the beginning can’t be fixed as easily as adding too little. You can always add more but you can’t take it out once you’ve added it.
Thank you to my Grandma in Heaven. Although I didn’t get the chance to know you, remnants of your life live on through me and now through my own daughter.
As Always…Remember 2 Savor!
