About a month before I made the Great American Road Trip, I was perusing through social media when I came across a post that led me down a rabbit hole of research. I can’t find the post anymore, but it claimed that teriyaki was the best go-to regional staple in the PNW. I love a good teriyaki. I assumed that the West Coast style of chowing down on this sticky-sweet sensation was something only found in Japanese, Hibachi, or other East Asian restaurants.
The more I continued to scroll, the more I realized that I underestimated teriyaki’s place in PNW food culture. One Twitter user claimed that “there’s no such thing as good teriyaki outside of Seattle,” while another was stunned to learn that “…teriyaki restaurants literally don’t exist outside of Washington.” Another equated teriyaki to the West Coast the same way that diners are to the East Coast. It was apparent that I was missing out on something good.
Further research led me to this Seattle Weekly article from 2007- which I highly recommend if you’re interested in the history of this regional dish. Coincidentally, I stumbled upon the article just hours after purchasing my first order from Bellingham teriyaki powerhouse Hana Teriyaki. Picture this: I’m on the floor of my new apartment, taking bites of perfectly char-grilled chicken in between paragraphs of this article, while procrastinating building the dining room table that this meal could’ve christened. But I wouldn’t have it any other way. The whole experience was perfect- and I craved more.
I’ve tried a few other teriyaki places around the PNW- from Seattle to Portland- but none have hit the sweet spot of my stomach quite like Hana Teriyaki has. The best part? I could have teriyaki on that super-restrictive diet that I was on earlier this year! Teriyaki-adjacent meals made their way to my weekly menu fairly frequently during that time. Somehow, during that time, I’m surprised I didn’t think to try and replicate the magic of Hana in my own home.
Yeah. What a shame…
…
Who am I kidding. I’m going to try (and maybe only fail a little bit) to make my own West Coast teriyaki. There’s no time like the present!
Here’s what I used:
-frozen chicken thighs
-teriyaki sauce
-salt & pepper
-sugar
-corn starch
-jasmine rice
-olive oil
Here’s what I did:
-I preheated the oven to 375°. Took the chicken right out of the freezer and seasoned it with olive oil, teriyaki sauce, salt, and pepper.
I don’t own a grill. Or a grill pan. I chose to bake/broil the chicken instead. Despite its less-than-appealing appearance, everything was moving smoothly at this point.
-I let the chicken bake for 50 minutes.
Once it was time to make the sauce, things took a bit of a turn. For context- I’ve made homemade teriyaki sauce in the past. The stuff that came in the bottle was way too thin for my liking. I knew I had to thicken it with cornstarch to make it at least look like the sauce from Hana.
-Dump the entire bottle of teriyaki sauce into a saucepan. Heat on the stove over medium heat.
I gave the sauce a taste before it warmed up- something was very off. It was spicy. Teriyaki sauce isn’t supposed to be naturally spicy. I checked the ingredients label- nothing. The spiciest thing on there was vinegar. That can’t be right. I had to fix this.
-Add a small bowl full of sugar to the sauce.
This helped… slightly. Maybe if I thickened it properly, the spice would go away?
-In a small bowl, combine 2 tablespoons of cornstarch with 1/4 cup of water. Add cornstarch slurry to teriyaki sauce, let cook for 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally.
This is what the sauce looked like after adding the slurry. Am I making teriyaki sauce or coffee? I couldn’t tell anymore.
I turned my back for one minute while washing my rice, and suddenly:
Boom! Thick, shiny teriyaki sauce. The consistency was spot on. It was too hot to taste, so I hoped for the best and took it off the burner. In the meantime, my rice was ready to go. I made so much rice on the low FODMAP diet that it’s like second nature to me at this point.
In brief: wash 1 cup of rice until the water runs clear. Add to pot with 2 cups of water and a pinch of salt. Bring to boil, cover and reduce the heat to low. Cook for 17 minutes. Uncover and fluff with fork, then serve.
I did not take pictures of the rice process because… that wouldn’t be the most appealing content, would it?
I did, however, forget to take pictures after the chicken was done cooking.
-After removing from the oven, brush thickened teriyaki sauce over cooked chicken. Set oven to “broil,” cook for additional 1-2 minutes (watch closely as ovens can smell fear).
-Plate and serve, with additional sauce poured over top.
The result:
One of the best pieces of advice you’ll ever get when making any sort of food: always taste as you go. Did I do that with the sauce before I slathered it all over this chicken and rice? Nope. Was I subsequently surprised when I finally gave the sauce a try on its own? You betcha.
But something completely unexpected when I put everything together and took a bite: the spiciness wasn’t as pronounced. It was an afterthought when coupled with the chicken and rice. Did I just achieve a miracle in food science? Or am I having an allergic reaction?
Because of the unknown origins of the spice, I did have to make a few phone calls to make sure I was ok to keep eating my lunch. Next time, I’ll stick to more basic ingredients and just make my own teriyaki from scratch. Everything else turned out as well as I had hoped- while the baking/broiling method worked out just fine, I think the chicken would’ve benefitted from a few minutes on a hot grill pan. Overall: I give it a 7.5/10.
To conclude: Hana Teriyaki still reigns as the supreme teriyaki king in my heart. Catch me munching on their lunch specials- until next time.