Teriyaki Chicken Plate Lunch

With it’s roots in the Japanese bento, the plate lunch is a staple in Hawaii.

So what is a plate lunch? Similar to the South’s meat-and-three, there are a variety of proteins to choose from. However, what’s always on the plate is macaroni salad and two scoops rice.

Our teriyaki sauce is great with anything teriyaki, including our veggie option…

The origin of the plate lunch dates back to the 1800s, where it became a popular lunch for plantation workers on the booming pineapple and sugar plantations.

Many of these plantation workers were immigrants from other countries such as Japan, China, the Philippines, Korea, and Portugal. With them, they brought various dishes from their homeland.

Along with many Hawaiian dishes on the plate lunch menu, there are a diverse number of others, including chicken or pork katsu, char sui chicken, teriyaki salmon (chicken or beef), and pork adobo.

We’re recreating one of the most popular, chicken teriyaki.

Replacing Soy Sauce

Of course when we think of teriyaki sauce, we automatically relate it to shoyu or soy sauce.

Coconut aminos is the perfect replacement for soy sauce, containing just 2 ingredients, organic coconut tree sap and organic sea salt.

Although naturally sweet, coconut aminos is low on the glycemic index scale, so it won’t spike your blood sugar. It’s also contains 73% less sodium than soy sauce. If that’s not enough, it’s organic, gluten-free, non-GMO, contains no MSG, and it’s vegan!

Coconut Aminos makes this teriyaki sauce a no-brainer.

Making the Teriyaki Sauce

In a small saucepan, combine coconut aminos, orange juice, rice vinegar, honey, minced ginger, and minced garlic. Reserve 1/2 cup for marinating chicken thighs.

Place chicken thighs and reserved sauce in a large zip lock bag. Seal and marinate in the fridge for 8 hours.

While the chicken is marinating, bring the ingredients in saucepan to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium and simmer for 10 minutes.

Combine cornstarch and water, stirring to form a smooth paste. Whisk the cornstarch slurry into the simmering sauce, whisking constantly for 2 minutes.

Strain the teriyaki sauce into a bowl. Allow to cool and refrigerate until needed. This will yield about 1-1/2 cups of sauce, with enough leftover to enjoy later in the week on your favorite burger or in a stir-fry.

The Chicken

Take marinated chicken out of the fridge 20 minutes before cooking, to let it warm up a bit. Drain well.

Preheat oven to 350-degrees F. Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken thighs, smooth side down and sear for about 1 minute, until golden brown. Flip over for another minute to brown the other side.

Transfer chicken to a parchment or foil lined baking sheet. Bake until internal temperature reaches 165-degrees F, about 10 minutes. To test for doneness, use an instant read meat thermometer inserted into the center of the thickest part of the thigh.

Remove chicken from oven. Cover loosely with foil and allow chicken to rest for 5-10 minutes.

Chef Joel’s Tip

Resting meat ensures it is moist, tender and juicy. When meat is cooked, the proteins push the meat’s juices to the center of the meat. Resting allows the juices to redistribute throughout the meat and be reabsorbed so when you eat the meat it will be juicier and tastier.

The Rice

Plate lunch or sushi = calrose rice.

Calrose rice is known for its short pearly white grains and sticky texture. If you must, you can certainly replace calrose with brown rice. However, any local would tell you da rice gotta be sticky, brah.

The Macaroni Salad

In Hawaii, macaroni salad is king. You won’t find a plate lunch without it.

We’ve chosen a mac salad variation with potatoes. Click here for our potato-mac salad recipe.

Let’s Eat!

On each plate, place two scoops rice, one scoop potato-mac salad, and chicken. Serve with warm teriyaki sauce on the side.

Make Mine Veggie

Make mine veggie with teriyaki portobello mushrooms! Following this recipe for teriyaki chicken, simply replace the chicken thighs with 4 portobello mushrooms and omit the marinating.

Cut the stems off the mushrooms and scrape out the gills. Pour 1/2 cup teriyaki sauce, or more as needed, into a small bowl. Slide a portobello into the sauce with the underside facing up. Spoon sauce over the mushroom, coating the entire mushroom. Place the mushroom on a parchment lined baking sheet, underside facing up. Repeat with remaining mushrooms.

Bake at 375-degrees F for about 15 minutes or until mushrooms reach desired tenderness. Slice and serve with rice and potato-mac salad.

Now it’s time fo grind!