“Teriyaki” Chicken

Hello friends! I hope you have been enjoying your week so far.  Work has been crazy as usual and I have been craving a lot of sweet stuff. For a self-proclaimed savoury tooth, this is quite unusual.

Probably it’s that time of the month… you know, more bitchy than usual…haha!

“Enough Emily, we are not interested in your reproduction cycle! Especially not on a food blog for heaven’s sake!!!”

Too much information, I get it.

Speaking of sweet stuff, I have also purchased a bottle of Pepsi (note – it’s not a habit). The good thing is I have kept it long enough until it has gone flat. A good sign? Yes (this means I haven’t drank often enough that it has the chance to go flat).

Before I was about to toss it away, my inner strict-Asian-upbringing-self has told me not to be wasteful. This  also led to the idea of turning the flat Pepsi (and soy sauce) into teriyaki sauce. An inspiration came from  the Coca-cola chicken that my friend used to cook for me in my college days. I remember the sauce turned out to be sweet, sticky and savoury – the similar traits that attract me to teriyaki chicken, but minus the sake and mirin which I don’t have in my pantry.

“Teriyaki Chicken”

Serves two people

Ingredients:-

• 500g /18 oz  (about 4 pieces)chicken thigh fillets, diced
• 4 cloves of garlic, grated
• 1 inch thick ginger, grated
• 1 cup Pepsi/Coca-cola (it doesn’t have to be flat)
• Light soy sauce to taste
• White pepper
• Sesame oil (about half a tablespoon)
• 1 tbsp sesame seeds, toasted

Methods:

1. Peel ginger and garlic. Grate them onto a bowl and set aside.

2. Dice the chicken thighs.

3. Heat a stir fry pan on medium flame, and dry toast 1 tbsp of sesame seeds until brown lightly. Remove from pan on a flat plate to cool.

4. Add grated ginger, garlic and sesame oil over medium flame until it sizzles.

5. Add chicken and white pepper. Stir to combine the chicken with the ginger-garlic mixture. Brown the chicken over medium heat.

6. Remove the chicken and 1 cup of Pepsi. Allow the mixture to cook on high heat until thickens (above half the original amount).

7. Add chicken and season with soy sauce to taste. Over low heat, simmer the chicken until the sauce thickens a little more.

8. Sprinkle the toasted sesame seeds just before serving. Best eaten with steamed rice.

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