I recently had a hankering for teriyaki chicken and after looking at the pathetic selection of bottled teriyaki sauce (not to mention the price) in the grocery stores I decided it was time to make my own.  This sauce (the base recipe) can be modified very easily to your own personal tastes and desires by just simply adding more brown sugar, soy and/or garlic and either orange or pineapple juice.  You can go crazy with the ingredients and purchase Shoyu or Huli Huli but I have had excellent results with just regular (low sodium) soy sauce. Have fun and plan on resting after you eat this chicken…cause you are going to over eat, guaranteed!  Thanks to Teri R. for helping me figure this one out!

Yield:  this recipe easily feeds a family of 6-8, or provides awesome leftovers for smaller ones

For The Sauce: (makes 6 cups of base sauce)

1 cup soy sauce

4 cups water

1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger (you can certainly substitute fresh ginger)

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 1/4 cup brown sugar

6 Tablespoons honey

1/2 cup cornstarch

1 cup cold water

In a large sauce pan, bring soy, water, ginger and garlic to a  slow boil.  Reduce heat and add brown sugar and honey.  In a bowl, mix cornstarch and water and mix thoroughly making sure all lumps are dissolved.  Add this mixture slowly to the soy/sugar mixture in the saucepan.  Bring back to a boil and remove from heat.  (This is your base sauce.  You can stop here (taste and modify to your preference) and use just like you would use bottled sauce.)

For the chicken:

10 chicken wings  (remove the skin and fat)

10 chicken thighs (remove the skin and fat)   – wings and thighs are my preference for this recipe as breast meat can get a weird texture when put through this kind of culinary punishment.

7 cups water

5 cups previously prepared teriyaki sauce

2 cups brown sugar (to start)

2 Tablespoons minced garlic (to start)

Add water, teriyaki sauce, sugar and garlic to a large pot and bring to a simmer.  Taste.  Add more sugar and/or garlic to suit your palate…think to yourself, what do I want my chicken to taste like?  And go from there.  Once you are satisfied with the flavor, bring to a boil and add half of your prepared chicken parts to the pot.  Boil until chicken is cooked but not falling off the bone (about 45 minutes).  Remove cooked chicken to a large bowl or grill platter (spoon some sauce over it to keep it moist and flavored) and add the other half of your uncooked parts to the pot (do so as quickly as you can or your sauce will boil over!)  Boil until chicken is again cooked but not falling off the bone (take a piece out and test it after 45 minutes).  Turn the heat off before you remove all of your chicken from the pot to prevent boiling over.

Whew.  With wonderful beverage of choice in hand, go out and start your grill.  When your grill is good and hot, bring out the platter of chicken.  Grill just long enough to carmelize the brown sugar and add some charring (you want that char grilled flavor!), about 5 or 6 minutes, turning so they get grilled evenly.  Remove from the grill, spoon on additional sauce and serve over white rice.

Simply fantastic!