My Recipe For my recipe, I had decided to make Baked Teriyaki Chicken Legs with a homemade teriyaki sauce. I had chosen to bake my chicken legs in an oven because chicken legs contain a lot more fat (being a "dark meat") and can retain being moist and tender using a dry heat method without the need of extra fat or support.
For the teriyaki sauce, I had used: 125ml Kikkoman Soy Sauce 125ml Mirin 1/2 cup of white sugar 1 clove garlic, crushed Crushed ginger
On a side note, mirin is a type of rice wine which contains a lower alcohol content but higher sugar content compared to sake. Teriyaki Sauce The teriyaki sauce was made by simply adding all ingredients together into a small pot and reducing until thick and syrupy. It came out with a great consistency and sweetness perfect for basting and marinating the chicken. A concern when making the teriyaki sauce is heat control. Due to the high sugar content, the sauce can easily burn if cooked on too high of a temperature.
Cooking Process Once my teriyaki sauce had cooled down, I brushed the teriyaki glaze on both sides of the chicken leg and placed it in a preheated 400 degree Fahrenheit oven for 40 minutes or until the juices had run clear. Midway through the cooking process in the oven I had basted the chicken legs once again with the glaze to achieve an even darker colour in the end.
The pictures above show the before and after stages of the chicken legs after being marinated and after being cooked in the oven
My Reason For This Recipe I chose a teriyaki glaze because it brings a unique sweet, sticky, and savory flavour element. It also adds a dark richness to the chicken that a dry rub or BBQ sauce wouldn't do. Since chicken legs are dark meat and have more fat compared to the chicken breast, a dry heat cooking method would be excellent at no sacrifice of any moisture in the meat. The teriyaki glaze also helped the chicken retain further moisture while providing an appealing colour. Some improvements that could be improved in this recipe would be to marinate the chicken for several hours or overnight to further enhance the flavours and to baste the chicken another time during the cooking process to further caramelize the chicken thus achieving more flavour and colour.