Food for Seattle Fans: Cherry Teriyaki Glazed Chicken Bites

For the third and final installment of this week's "Super Bowl Food" series, I make good on my promise to offer Seahawks fans a meal they can call their own.

Due to the large influence the Asian community has had on Seattle (home of the Seahawks), I decided to make a recipe based on chicken teriyaki.  In order to represent the rest of the state of Washington, cherries were thrown into the mix.

Originally, I wanted to use Rainier cherries, but I couldn't find any in the grocery stores, so this recipe uses cherry preserves.

As a non-traditional teriyaki,  there's no need to whip out the hibachi.  You can stay warm and cook these tender bite-size chicken pieces on your stovetop.

Garnish with some toasted sesame seeds and stick a toothpick in them for the perfect Super Bowl appetizer, or toss them in a bowl with rice and veggies for a no fuss dinner. 


Video Recipe Coming Soon...


Ingredients (36 to 42 pieces):

1 3/4 lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs (6 total)
~1 T neutral/vegetable oil
4 T mirin
4 T + 1 t soy sauce*
1 T unseasoned rice wine vinegar
1 T sugar
2 t grated ginger
1 T water
1/2 C cherry preserves

*Use gluten free soy sauce for a gluten free meal

Need metric?

Optional Extras
small amount of toasted sesame seed oil
2 small shallots, finely diced
1 T sesame seeds

-Heat a small amount of toasted sesame oil over medium heat.
-Saute diced shallots in oil once shimmering.
-Once shallots have lightened in color and are slightly translucent, add in sesame seeds and saute for another 2 to 3 minutes (until sesame seeds take on a little bit of color)

Instructions:

1.  Cut chicken thighs up into 1 inch cubes.  This does not have to be exact, but it's pretty much what you get from cutting each thigh into thirds, and then cutting those thirds in half for about 6 pieces a thigh.   

2.  In  a bowl or measuring cup, stir sugar into mixture of mirin, 4 T of soy sauce, and the rice wine vinegar until sugar dissolves.  Add grated ginger and 1 T water.  Stir. 

3.  Heat oil until shimmering in a pan that's 10-12 inches wide.  Add chicken cubes and assemble into one even layer.  Let the chicken sit in the pan for a minute or two with the heat on medium-high.

4.  Deglaze the pan with the soy/mirin concoction you made in step 2.  Stir with a spoon to scrape up any bits stuck to the pan and to make sure chicken has been coated in soy sauce mixture.

5.  Allow the soy sauce mixture to reduce by about half.  This should take about 3 to 5 minutes.

6.  Add cherry preserves and an extra 1 tsp of soy sauce.  Squish any large pieces of cherries while you stir the glaze.  Don't let anything burn, but you should be able to cook on medium-high to medium heat the whole way.  Continue to let the sauce reduce until it has become sticky and syrupy.

Your chicken is ready to serve at this point

7.  If you chose to saute some shallots, you should add them in once the sauce has mostly been reduced. 

8.  Once your chicken bits are covered in the glaze and there is relatively little sauce left in the pan, you're ready to serve. 

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