Teriyaki chicken is one of my favourite dishes and the best thing I love about making it at home is that you can adjust the flavours to your taste. I love a mild teriyaki sauce with plenty of ginger but it is so easy to make it sweeter, saltier or more sour, an option which you cannot have at restaurants and takeout!

This is a staple recipe in my house and the best part is it is made in one pan! You can have this over rice, noodles, on its own or basically anything you can think of.

This is a quick dinner you can make anytime in the week in less than half an hour. It is also a food that would be perfect to make for your loved ones on Valentines day by cutting the chicken into heart shapes.

Step 1: Ingredients and Equipment

Serves 4

Ingredients

- 2 Large chicken breasts

- 1 1/2 Tablespoons FRESH Grated Ginger (make sure you freshly grate this!)

- 2 Cloves of garlic crushed)

- 1/3 Cup brown sugar

- 1 Cup low sodium soy sauce ( or 1/2 cup soy 1/4 cup water to make it less salty)

- 2 Tablespoon Mirin (or rice wine vinegar)

-1 Teaspoon cornflour

- 1-2 teaspoons Water

- Pepper for taste

- Oil to cook chicken

Ingredients to serve (Optional)

- Steamed rice

- Steamed broccoli

- Spring onion

- Sesame seeds

Equipment

- Large pan

- Medium mixing bowl

- Cutting Board

- Cutting knife

- Grater

- Garlic press

- Spoons

Step 2: Prep the Ingredients

The most important thing about teriyaki sauce is to use freshly grated ginger! You can use jarred ginger but if you want the best flavour you have to grate it yourself! First peel the fresh ginger root and grate it until you have about 1 1/2 tablespoons of it, place it aside. Then peel and mince your garlic in a garlic press and place aside as well.

(The garlic can be done ahead of time to prevent your hands/ hair smelling of it!)

Then cut each chicken breast in half so that you have a total of 4 pieces. Then finally slice your spring onion (Try not to crush the onion by using a sharp knife because crushing the onion will give it a slimy texture.)

Step 3: Make the Teriyaki Sauce

In the medium mixing bowl add the brown sugar, soy sauce, mirin, black pepper, ginger and garlic and stir together. This is the point where you can adjust the taste to suit you.

More sour:

- Add more mirin or lemon juice

More Sweet

- Ad more brown sugar or caster sugar

More/ Less Salty

- More = use full sodium soy or add a little bit more

- Less = fill measuring cup 3/4 full and fill the rest up to 1 cup with water

Step 4: Cook the Chicken

In a large pan heat some oil on medium high heat then place the chicken in the pan and cook on each side for 2-3 minutes to brown it on both sides. By browning both sides on a high heat the chicken will stay moist when poaching in the teriyaki sauce.

Turn the heat on to medium and add the teriyaki sauce to the pan and allow the chicken to cook for a further 5-10 minutes covered with the pan lid (turning chicken every few minutes). Test that the chicken is cooked by taking the thickest piece of chicken breast out and cutting into it, making sure it is cooked through.

When cooked remove from the pan and slice to be served.

Step 5: Thicken the Sauce (optional Step)

Once the chicken has been removed from the pan keep the heat on medium and in a separate small bowl mix the 1 teaspoon of cornflour with 11/2 - 2 teaspoons of cold water to make a thin white paste. Add this to the sauce and stir vigorously as if you take too long it will make lumps in the sauce. Then turn the heat on high to boil the sauce for 1 minute then bring down to a low simmer until the sauce thickens.

If you prefer runny teriyaki sauce omit this step and if you prefer a really think sauce ass more cornflour until you reach your desired thickness