Before we get started, why don’t we go through a few Japanese words/phrases we can use while we cook or eat?
Firstly, at the start of the video Emma tells you her name in Japanese.
The way you say this is: watashi no namae wa ‘Emma’ desu (insert your name instead of Emma) Give it a go!
A few other phrases include:
Shari (pronounced: shaa-ree) means sushi rice
Hashi (pronounced: haa-shee) means chopsticks
Itadakimasu (pronounced: eat-a-ducki-maas) is what you say before you eat. It means ‘thank you for the meal we are about to eat’
Gochisousama (pronounced: goh-chi-so-sa-ma) is what you say after you eat. It means ‘thank you for the meal we just ate’
Oishii (o-ee-shee) means delicious!
The full recipe is below. If you know how to make your rice, skip straight to the chicken! Here's where those spots are:
- Part one: sushi rice - 00:33
- Part two: teriyaki chicken - 2:47
- Part three: prepare the vegetables and put the bowls together - 7:50
Teriyaki chicken bowl full recipe
Time needed: approx 2 ½ hours (including marinating the chicken and cooling down the rice)
To serve six people you will need:
For the rice:
- 3 cups short grain rice (sometimes called ‘sushi rice’ on the bag)
- 4 cups water
- ½ cup rice wine vinegar (or rice vinegar)
- 2 tbsp caster sugar
- 2 tsp salt
For the Teriyaki Chicken:
- 6 chicken breasts (substitute for equivalent of another protein if desired. Good options: beef, salmon, tofu)
- 125 ml soy sauce
- 125 ml mirin (or dry sherry is ok too)
- 2 tbsp oil
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 2 teaspoons grated ginger
- 1 clove garlic
- ½ tsp sesame oil
- Sesame seeds to season for plating (optional)
Vegetable ideas:
- Cucumber
- Radish
- Capsicum
- Avocado
- Spring onion
- Cooked brown onion
- Red onion
Change recipe quantities as needed for less or more people.
Start with the sushi rice. If you have a rice cooker, you will follow a different method to the way Emma is cooking in the video with the pot. Either way, you will start with washing the rice.
- Wash your rice using a strainer and running the water through the rice until it drains through completely clean and clear.
- If you are using a stove top pot: while you are doing this, have your pot on the stove getting the water to boiling point.
- Stove top: Now put your rice into the boiling water, turning the temperature to low and putting the lid on.
- For a rice cooker: you can now put in the water and the rice and turn your rice cooker on. The rice cooker will do the rest of the work!
- Once your rice is cooked, make sure it is not too wet – if it is use a strainer to run cold water through the rice to drain away some of that extra sogginess.
- To make the rice seasoning, combine the rice wine vinegar, the caster sugar and the salt in a small dish and mix until it has all dissolved.
- Now put the cooked rice into a large dish and pour half of the rice seasoning over it, folding the mixture in with a wooden spoon.
- Taste the rice and season to taste with the rest of the seasoning mixture.
- Now you can set the rice aside to cool while you make the chicken.
And now for the main event: The teriyaki chicken! (Or other protein source as substituted by you). The first thing to do is make the marinade for the chicken.
- Crush the garlic – either using a garlic crusher or crush the garlic with the thick part of your knife blade then chop it finely.
- Using 1 tsp of the caster sugar, mix it with the garlic to make a paste in a small bowl.
- Combine all marinade ingredients in a large bowl: sugar, soy sauce, mirin, garlic paste, ginger, sesame oil.
- Now dice all of the chicken into bite-size pieces then put them into the marinade, moving the chicken through the marinade to coat the pieces evenly.
- Cover and set aside in the fridge for a minimum of one hour.
In the video, Emma uses an oven to cook the chicken, but you can cook the chicken in a pan on the stove top or on the barbeque as well. We will run through the way Emma cooked the chicken – and how to do it on a stove top.
How you cook it in the oven:
- Preheat the oven to 200 degrees celcius.
- Oil a baking dish and place the chicken pieces into it, leaving any remaining marinade for later.
- Put the chicken in the oven – roasting for 20 minutes.
- Pull the chicken out and pour the remaining marinade over it, then pop it back in for another 30 minutes.
- Time to get the chicken out of the oven! Make sure that the chicken pieces are cooked all the way through. Cut into the chicken to ensure it is white all the way through. If it is good to go, you are ready to put the bowls together!
Or if you are using a stove top:
- Put a tablespoon of oil into a pan on the stove top and heat it up on high heat.
- Place the chicken pieces into the pan, leaving any remaining marinade for later.
- Cook the chicken until it is sealed (outside is cooked but it is not cooked all the way through). Will be 7-10 minutes.
- At this point take the pan off the heat and pour the remaining marinade over the chicken pieces, moving the pieces around to get evenly coated.
- Cook until the chicken is cooked all the way through and browned on the outside. Cut into the chicken to ensure that it is white all the way through. If it is good to go, you are ready to put the bowls together!
Prepare whatever vegetables you have and want to put in the bowls. Make sure to slice them thinly (as Emma does in the video) to make the bowl look better – and taster better too!
Grab a big bowl out and put some rice in the bottom, some chicken on top and arrange your vegetables how you like in the bowl. Sprinkle with sesame seeds if you would like some more flavour.
Oishii desu! Yummy!