Cedar Planked Teriyaki Chicken

A guest post by Canadian food blogger Korena Vine.

Contrary to the image that might pop into your head when you think “Canadian winter“, on the West coast of Canada it doesn’t actually get super snowy and impossibly cold – it mostly just gets super rainy and only rather cold. This means that, among other things, it is still totally possible to grill or barbeque outside through the winter. Which explains how I found myself cooking cedar planked teriyaki chicken on the barbeque on a drizzly November day.

I covered cedar planked salmon with rosemary smoke using SeaChange’s cedar grilling planks back in the summer, and I wanted to experiment with chicken as well. Last year I mastered barbequed chicken thanks to this article and the secret of indirect heat when grilling and barbequing (I use those two terms interchangeably because in Canada, both mean cooking on metal grates over flame). Grilling over indirect heat means that instead of being right underneath whatever you are cooking, the heat/flame is off to the side instead. In the case of bone-in, skin-on chicken (which is best for barbequing because it stays moist and the skin gets crisp), indirect grilling prevents flare-ups from dripping chicken fat, which can result in charred, blackened chicken that tastes more like ashes than anything. A cedar plank further protects the chicken from the flames in much the same way by acting as an indirect cooking surface, with the heat for cooking coming from both sides instead of from underneath. So you end up with beautifully cooked chicken, crisp caramelized skin, and no burnt bits, plus you get the aromatic bonus of the cedar smoke.

The best barbequed chicken always has some kind of sauce, so I stirred up an easy teriyaki glaze to brush over the chicken as it cooked. In what seems to be my signature here, the result is a Canadian twist on an Asian classic: sweet, sticky teriyaki chicken with a hint of cedar smoke. Delicious.

First off, you will need to soak a cedar grilling plank in water overnight. Conveniently, SeaChange’s 12-inch grilling planks fit perfectly into a 9″ x 13″ baking dish.

Make a brine for the chicken by combining brown sugar, mirin, soy sauce, and water in a Ziploc bag.

Add the chicken (bone-in, skin-on) and let it marinate in the fridge for at least an hour.

Meanwhile, make the teriyaki glaze: mix together a mixture of soy sauce, honey, mirin, and sake in a small pot.

Cook over medium heat until it thickens a little bit – just enough to coat the back of a spoon. Pour it into a bowl and let it cool slightly.

Now, prepare your grilling surface. Preheat the barbeque to about medium heat (350˚F to 450˚F). You will need both direct heat (from underneath) to start cooking and indirect heat (from the sides) to finish cooking. I did this by lighting three burners, cooking over the middle one, and simply turning it off when I needed indirect heat.

Brush one side of the soaked cedar plank with a little vegetable oil, then remove the chicken from the brine and arrange it on the plank (discard the brine). Place the plank over direct heat (ie, the middle burner), and cook for 5 – 10 minutes with the lid closed.

(It’s a good idea to have a spray bottle of water nearby to extinguish any flames on the cedar plank, however I didn’t have any problems with this once I switched to indirect heat.)

Turn off the middle burner (or move the plank to indirect heat), and brush the chicken with some teriyaki glaze.

Cook for about 30 minutes with the lid closed, brushing with glaze every 10 minutes or so, until the chicken is done and the skin is deeply brown.

Remove the chicken from the plank with tongs and serve it over rice, sprinkled with chopped green onions.

Cedar Planked Teriyaki Chicken

Adapted from No Recipes and Weber.com

Brine
1/2 cup water
2 tbsp dark brown sugar
2 tbsp dark soy sauce
2 tbsp mirin (rice wine for cooking)

4 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs

Teriyaki Glaze
2 tbsp mild honey
2 tbsp dark soy sauce
2 tbsp mirin (rice win for cooking)
2 tbsp sake

1 x 12-inch SeaChange cedar grilling plank, soaked in water overnight
vegetable oil, for brushing
steamed rice and chopped green onions, to serve

Stir together the brine ingredients and place them in a large Ziploc bag along with the chicken thighs. Press out as much air as possible, seal the bag, and let the chicken marinate in the fridge for at least an hour.

Combine the glaze ingredients in a small pot and simmer over medium heat until it reduces and thickens slightly, just enough to coats the back of a spoon. You’ll know it’s ready when the entire surface is covered in vigorously-boiling bubbles. Remove to a bowl to cool slightly (it will continue to thicken as it cools).

Preheat the barbeque to about medium heat (350˚F to 450˚F) to provide both direct heat (from underneath) to start cooking and indirect heat (from the sides) to finish cooking. I did this by lighting three burners, cooking over the middle one, and simply turning it off when I needed indirect heat.

Brush one side of the soaked cedar plank with a little vegetable oil, then remove the chicken from the brine and arrange it on the plank (discard the brine). Place the plank over the middle burner (ie, direct heat), and cook for 5 – 10 minutes with the lid closed (have a spray bottle of water handy just in case there are any flames on the cedar plank). Turn off the middle burner (or move the plank to indirect heat), and brush the chicken with some teriyaki glaze. Cook for about 30 minutes with the lid closed, brushing with glaze every 10 minutes or so, until the chicken reaches 165˚F and the skin is deeply brown. Remove the chicken from the plank with tongs. Serve with steamed rice and garnish with chopped green onions.

Enjoy this post? Enjoy more recipes by Korena Vine at Korena in the Kitchen!