Teriyaki Chicken

Late July and Memphis is moving toward the holidays with the purposeful energy of a city that takes its celebrations seriously. The temperature has dropped into the forties at night, and the mornings require the lined jacket, and I am 60, still walking my mail route through Midtown Memphis, carrying the days the way I carry everything: steadily, with the knowledge that carrying is the job.

The week\'s main current was angela's baby shower. Marcus and Angela are settling into the life they are building together — the house in Whitehaven, the routines of marriage, the daily practice of showing up for each other that I told Marcus about and that he is learning the way all men learn it: slowly, imperfectly, with the determination that love provides and that pride demands. Angela is part of the Johnson family now, not by title but by action, by presence, by the way she moves through our house as if the walls recognize her.

I smoked chicken this week — a simple cook, not the hours-long commitment of a shoulder but the focused, attentive work of a pitmaster who respects every protein equally. The chicken went on the smoker rubbed with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and paprika, and I smoked it at 275 over hickory for three hours, basting with butter every forty-five minutes to keep the skin from drying. The result was golden-skinned, smoke-ringed, juicy to the bone — the kind of chicken that makes you understand why Uncle Clyde said, \'Respect the bird, nephew. The bird can taste your attitude.\'

I went to bed thinking about the people I love and the food I\'ve made and the fire that doesn\'t go out. The fire is the constant. The fire is the inheritance that Uncle Clyde gave me and that I am passing forward, spark by spark, cook by cook, to whoever has the patience to stand next to me and learn. The fire doesn\'t care about my knee or my blood pressure or the fact that the world is changing in ways I don\'t always understand. The fire just burns. And I tend it. And the tending is the living.

The smoked bird I pulled off the pit that week was for family — for Angela, for Marcus, for the life they are building together in Whitehaven — and when I think about what to share with the people who weren’t standing next to that smoker with me, this Teriyaki Chicken is the answer. It carries the same spirit: respect for the protein, attention to the glaze, the patience that turns a simple cut of chicken into something that makes people stop talking and start eating. Uncle Clyde would have approved. You make it for a crowd, you make it with care, and you let the flavor do what good food always does — pull everybody a little closer together.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 25 min | Total Time: 40 min | Servings: 6

Ingredients

2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup honey
3 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon sesame oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons cold water
1 tablespoon vegetable oil (for cooking)
Sesame seeds and sliced green onions, for garnish
Cooked white rice, for serving

Instructions

Make the marinade. In a bowl, whisk together soy sauce, honey, brown sugar, rice vinegar, sesame oil, garlic, and ginger until the sugar dissolves.
Marinate the chicken. Place chicken in a zip-top bag or shallow dish, pour half the teriyaki mixture over it, and marinate in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes or up to 4 hours. Reserve the remaining marinade for the glaze.
Make the glaze. In a small saucepan over medium heat, bring the reserved marinade to a simmer. Whisk together cornstarch and cold water, then stir into the simmering sauce. Cook 2–3 minutes until thickened. Set aside.
Cook the chicken. Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet or grill pan over medium-high heat. Remove chicken from marinade and discard the used marinade. Cook chicken 5–7 minutes per side, or until cooked through and the internal temperature reaches 165°F.
Glaze and finish. In the last 2 minutes of cooking, brush the thickened glaze generously over each piece and allow it to caramelize slightly on both sides.
Rest and serve. Remove chicken from heat and let rest 5 minutes. Slice, spoon any remaining glaze over the top, and garnish with sesame seeds and green onions. Serve over white rice.

Nutrition (per serving)

Teriyaki Chicken — The Bird That Brought Everyone to Angela's Baby Shower Table