Teriyaki Chicken on the BBQ (with Tofu Option)

Thanks for visiting! Be sure to sign up for emails or subscribe to RSS to get free updates whenever there's something new. Prefer to connect by Twitter or Facebook? I'm sharing there too!

I'd been searching high and low for the perfect chicken marinade for a long time before I came across this keeper on Recipezaar, Teriyaki Marinade for Chicken or Steak. This is good stuff, I'm telling you. The flavor makes it all the way inside the chicken, and the chicken cooks up nice and moist – it doesn't dry out on the barbecue. I marinate boneless, skinless chicken breasts (for everyone but me) and tofu (for me), and my guy grills 'em up. We love to throw slices of fresh pineapple on the BBQ for the last five minutes or so of cooking time, then plop the pineapple on top of the meat (or non-meat for freaks like me who prefer tofu.) 

We made this while camping last weekend (sans pineapple, alas), and it turned out to be a surprisingly great and easy camping food. I just made the marinade before we left on Friday, then we threw it in with the chicken on Saturday morning. I marinated my tofu separately, of course. Then we grilled it up and with some yummy sides had an easy, delicious dinner Saturday night.

Here's the recipe:

Teriyaki Chicken on the BBQ (with Tofu Option)

Adapted from papergoddess's recipe on Recipezaar 

Serves 4 – 6

4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts or 1 cube extra-firm tofu
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup soy sauce
3 tablespoons brown sugar
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger root
2 tablespoons sherry

Whisk all the ingredients together. You have your marinade!

Chicken: Cut off any yucky fatty stuff and throw the marinade in with the chicken breasts (either in a Ziploc bag or a container large enough to hold them all. Stick it in the fridge, letting it marinate for 6-8 hours (turn them over once or twice if you can, just to help make sure it marinates evenly).

Tofu: Press the block of tofu to help get some of the moisture out. The best way to do this, I've found, is to line a plate with five or six paper towels, put the block of tofu on there, add another paper towel or two on top, and top with about four dinner plates. Let the dinner plates weigh down the tofu, pressing out the extra moisture, for 10-15 minutes. But watch your plates! Sometimes the tofu sinks down on one side and your plates are in danger of tumbling. Now lay the tofu slab on its back and slice into 5-6 nice slices about 3/4 inches wide (see pic below for the shape I like). Lay them in a bowl or pan and pour the marinade on top. Unless you like your food salty (I admittedly do), I'd suggest marinating tofu for no more than a couple hours.

Heat your grill to about 350-375 degrees, pull your chicken and/or tofu out of the fridge, and plop it on the grill. Turning often, grill for about 15 minutes or until done – you probably know this, but make sure your chicken has NO pink inside!

(In some rare cases, I believe segregation can be a very good thing. In this case, never the tofu and chicken shall meet.)

Now, enjoy! Hopefully you'll have some fresh pineapple and a nicer platter to serve it on. We were camping, what can I say.