Hey there!

It’s Spice Girl again, here to share another recipe! As you may know, all of the recipes that I feature on this column are made by me, and so not all of them work out. This week was a tough one in the Spice Girl kitchen. I made a really horrible curry burger. Now, this teriyaki, although really really tasty, lacked the ginger flavor I wanted. So, let this be a reminder that with any recipe I share, any at all, feel free to change it however you like! 

Ginger

Ginger, or Zingiber Officinale, is considered to be one of the most health-beneficial spices out there. Ginger can lower the risk of heart disease, lower cholesterol, and can help fight infections. Many enjoy ginger in teas, and many Asian cultures use ginger in soups and everyday cuisine. Today we’re cooking up a non-traditional apple teriyaki with some ginger in it!

Teriyaki Chicken

Most everyone I know thinks that teriyaki is Japanese. However, I found out recently that teriyaki is actually from Hawaii! Really surprising to me. Teriyaki made its claim to fame here in the US with promotion from popular soy sauce brand Kikkoman. 

As mentioned above, definitely switch up the recipe if you like. I would add more ginger (or maybe my ginger was just dead.

 Who knows?) and I would reduce the soy sauce to ⅓ of a cup. More on that later!

Sorry about the lack of ginger. I hope next week is heavier on the spice!

See you soon, 

Spice Girl

Recipe

Makes: Three servings

Prep Time: 15 minutes plus 1 hour marinating time

Cook Time: 7 to 10 minutes for the chicken, or until dark brown in appearance and cooked through.

Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

-½ cup of soy sauce (If you want less sodium and a lighter flavor, try ⅓ cup or add ⅓ cup water)

-¼ cup packed light brown sugar

-1 teaspoon minced garlic

-½ an apple, cut in slices

-½ teaspoon of ginger or to taste

-2 chicken thighs, cut in cubes

-2 tablespoons flour

1. Combine your ingredients in a large bowl or tupperware. Make sure to mix well and to let the sugar spread out. Place your chicken in the bowl and let sit in the refrigerator, covered, for an hour. Tip: When marinating, cover your bowl or tupperware! This will prevent evaporation or other flavors (like the inside of your fridge) from getting into your delicious food!
2. When the hour is up, take your bowl/tupperware out of the refrigerator. 
3. Turn your stove on to medium-high heat. Take out a non-stick pan and put a tablespoon of oil in the pan and wait until the oil moves like water. Test this by picking up your pan and tilting it. 
4. Put your chicken in the pan. Cook for 7-10 minutes, or until dark brown and cooked through. Because the chicken is cut small, it’s relatively fast-cooking. 
5. Repeat the process to cook all of the chicken. 
6. Strain out remaining fillings from the marinade. Put the marinade in a small saucepan and simmer on low. Slowly add in the flour to thicken the marinade and turn it into a sauce.
7. Then you’re ready to plate! Serve with rice and top with your sauce and sesame (optional).
8. Enjoy!

Bonus recipe:

Our chicken had skin on it, and we decided to make some fried chicken skins. Although I fully intended to get a picture, they were so popular in my house that they were all gone before any pictures were taken. Haha.

1.  Take the chicken skins off the meat. Cut them into smaller pieces.

2. Lightly flour them to create a crispier skin. All you need to do is pour some all-purpose flour into a bowl and c
oat the chicken skins in the flour. Reference picture to the right. 

3. Turn your stove’s heat to high. Be careful, it’s hot! 

4. Pour oil (about 4 tablespoons) into the pan and wait until it moves like water.

5. Fry your chicken skins. The oil might spit, so be super careful!

6. Once the chicken skins are golden brown and there are no pink spots, place them on a plate with a paper towel, napkin or reusable towel to leech out excess oil.

7. Enjoy!