Originally I thought I’d be posting a recipe for Gma’s barbecue chicken, but when I went flipping through traditional recipes, I could see her teriyaki-like recipe was a hybrid of yakitori and marinate-and-or-simmer-at-will. Using the typical ingredients listed below, Gma created grilled chicken thighs and simmered, then chilled “candied” drumsticks for picnics and road trips. It’s another example where Gma combined “washoku” and the time-thrifty cook.
The basic sauce/marinade elements:
- ½ cup soy sauce
- ½ cup mirin*
- ¼ cup sake*
- ¼ cup water
- 2 tsp brown sugar (packed and leveled off)
- If you’re doing the summer grilled version, Gma liked to add red pepper flakes (like pepperoncini) to the marinade
*Growing up, mirin and sake were not so readily available so Gma might use cooking wine as a substitution.
This basic sauce is meant to be a yakitori glaze for cut up chicken thighs, but Gma used it as an overnight marinade, not cooked/reduced. Leftovers or broiled versions of this chicken were also part of the special car food lunch boxes (probably a lot less messy than the candied chicken), so it’s no wonder I associate this recipe base with summer!