Teriyaki Chicken & Fried Rice

I mentioned on Facebook last night that I’d made an absolutely awesome teriyaki chicken and fried rice recipe.  I thought I’d share it with you today.  Unfortunately, there were not enough leftovers to get a picture to show you, and in the hustle of getting food on the table, I totally forgot last night.

But it tastes awesome. I promise.

This is one of those easy weeknight dinners, too. I think I had it on the table in less than 30 minutes. Two recipes… make them separately if you wish, or serve them together like I did.  The girls preferred plain white rice to the fried rice, but they don’t know what they were missing. That was the best part of the dinner to me.

Teriyaki Chicken

For the Teriyaki chicken, the base was just as simple as can be – chicken thighs marinated in a teriyaki sauce.  I used Veri Veri Teriyaki.  It is an all natural teriyaki and I love the flavor it has.

I started out with frozen thighs, so I marinated the partially-defrosted thighs for about an hour in a Tupperware with about 1/2 cup of this sauce.  Then I cut the thighs into bite-sized pieces and put them back in the marinade to soak for another half hour or so. I find that chicken is easier to cut into small pieces when it’s partially frozen.  Less slippy-slidey that way.  This is something you could easily skip and just marinade/defrost the chicken in a Tupperware in your freezer while you’re working during the day.

Once I was ready to cook the chicken, I just put some olive oil and about 1 tsp of sesame oil in a hot skillet. I sautéed the chicken (marinade and all) until it was cooked (about 10 min) and let it simmer until the water cooked out of the marinade. I was left with a nice, shiny glaze on the chicken.

In a separate pot, I cooked about 1 cup of rice. 

For the girls, I served a small bowl of the rice with a serving of the chicken on the side.  Fruit rounded out their meal.

Fried Rice

2-3 cups (cooked) rice
1/2 bag frozen vegetables (I used Publix Japanese Blend)
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp sesame oil
1 Tbsp olive oil
Soy Sauce (about 2 Tbsp)
Emeril’s Asian Seasoning (you could also use Chinese Five Spice Powder)

In a large skillet, heat the oil. Once oil is shimmering in the pan, put your rice in and stir to heat through.

Add your soy sauce (to taste) and the frozen vegetables, heating through. I covered the pan while the veggies thawed and this helped to use the steam to moisten the rice a little more (I was using leftover rice)

Let this cook for 5-7 minutes, stirring frequently.

Add the garlic and sprinkle generously with Asian Seasoning.

Serve with the Teriyaki chicken. YUM.

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I just realized the Asian Essence I reference above (Emeril’s) is no longer available (mine is old, I guess!) but here is a recipe you might try – the source says it is from Food Network, but I could not find it there to link you directly to it. It looks pretty close, though, and like I said before, you could just use Chinese Five Spice Powder and be good to go.

Emeril’s Asian Spice Blend:

In a small bowl, blend all the ingredients. Keep in an airtight container until ready to use.