Dan Bites

Alright, back in the kitchen. The one thing about traveling in the Grand Circle area is the lack of quality Asian food. We did find one really good Thai place near Zion Canyon, but Yuki was craving Japanese flavors and simple white rice. So, being the absolutely wonderful husband that I am, I made some chicken teriyaki with vegetables and white rice.

First thing I had to do was make the teriyaki sauce. In a small sauce pan I put in 1 tablespoon of sugar with 7 tablespoons each of soy sauce, mirin, and sake. I also added a few fresh rosemary needles just to add one more element. I let that come to a slow boil for just a few minutes until the sugar was dissolved. Then I set it aside and let it cool to room temperature.

Once the sauce was cooled I marinated some bone-in skin-on chicken breasts in it for about an hour at room temperature.

Then I cut up all the vegetables. Half of a sweet onion was sliced, one carrot into matchsticks, 7 good-sized shiitake mushrooms sliced, a handful of green beans cut in half, and half of a small napa cabbage head sliced.

I turned the oven on to 400 degrees. I took my baking pan and lined it with foil and then laid a rack inside it. I laid the chicken thighs on the rack, sprinkled them with some pepper and a few rosemary needles, and threw them in the oven. I strained the reserved marinade back into the small sauce pan and boiled it for about 15 minutes until it reduced into a BBQ sauce consistency. Then I took the chicken out and glazed it with the thickened teriyaki and threw it back into the over for another 15 minutes.

While the sauce reduced I sautéed the vegetables. I started by throwing a couple of diced garlic cloves into some hot olive oil. After a minute I added the onion. A few minutes later the carrot. Then I added the green beans followed by the shiitake. I let it all come together for about 5 minutes and then seasoned with very little salt, some pepper, and about 2 tablespoons of soy sauce. I covered the pot and turned the heat way down to low. The vegetables at this point were mostly cooked, I just wanted them to finish off by steaming a little in the soy sauce.

I steamed the napa cabbage. That only takes about 4-5 minutes, so I waited until the chicken was just about done.

That’s it. A pretty simple meal to make but full of flavor and very healthy.