Make Teriyaki Chicken & Enjoy a Local Lunch in Nara

Teriyaki is Japan’s signature chicken, and rightly so. The flavorful, glossy teriyaki sauce imbues the meat with sweet and savory flavors, making it tender and moist. In this class, you will learn how to make this sauce, which needs a perfect ratio of soy sauce and sake or mirin. Beware, though: after learning this recipe and trying the real thing, your days of store-bought teriyaki sauce might be behind you!

Even the best teriyaki sauce is only half of the equation, however. The other half is in the chicken. In this experience, you’ll be preparing a high-grade, free-range chicken from Nara Prefecture called Yamato Nikudori, a variety known for its firmness, juiciness, and low-fat content. Your host will teach you how to enhance the flavors from the teriyaki sauce when marinating and cooking the chicken until juicy and succulent.

After the teriyaki chicken is cooked and served, you will enjoy it alongside six side dishes carefully prepared by your instructor using fresh and seasonal ingredients. The result? A delicious, copious lunch packed with some of Japan’s most famous and distinctive flavors for you to enjoy alongside your friendly host, Michiko!

Coming from a family of restaurateurs, Michiko studied culinary techniques at the Ritz Escoffier School in Paris. She is also a certified cooking instructor and vegetable sommelier in Japan. After learning about American home cooking from her host family in the US, Michiko made it her mission to share the cuisine of her home country and has been sharing her love of washoku (Japanese food) with the world ever since. Join Michiko in this unique class, make Nara's chicken teriyaki-style, and enjoy a delicious lunch made by you and Michiko!