Soy Ginger Chicken Negimaki

When my husband was growing up, negimaki was a weekly dinner in his house. On the other hand, if you asked my mom (who cooked all the meals in my house) to make negimaki her likely response would be “nega what?!”  — and I never would have asked because I for one didn’t know what it was either! But as two people merge their lives, some childhood favorites from each of us get brought into the new home, and negimaki is one of those dishes that has now landed on my plate and I have come to love.

Negimaki is a traditional Japanese dish made of thin strips of beef marinated in teriyaki sauce wrapped around scallions and broiled. My version of negimaki is made using thinly pounded chicken breast marinated in a soy ginger sauce. The marinade is really easy to make, but if you don’t have all of the ingredients on hand, you can use bottled teriyaki sauce.

Soy Ginger Chicken Negimaki
Serves 4

Ingredients:  

• 1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 2 teaspoons sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
• 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast, pounded to 1/4-inch thickness
• 1 bunch scallions, trimmed and cut into chunks, about 3 inches long

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350^oF and line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
2. In a large mixing bowl, mix together the soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, garlic, and ginger.
3. Cut the pieces of chicken widthwise into 3 pieces. Turn the narrow side of each piece of chicken to face you and put 1 or 2 chunks of scallions on the edge closest to you (some scallion may stick out). Roll up the chicken and scallions like a jelly roll, and use a toothpick to secure the roll. Repeat with the remaining chicken and scallions and place in the marinade.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
4. Remove chicken from the refrigerator, arrange on the prepared baking sheet, and pour the remaining marinade over the chicken. Bake for 10-15 minutes until the chicken is cooked through (since the chicken has been pounded thin it shouldn’t take too long to cook). Serve with sauce spooned on top.

Note: If you don’t have time to marinate the chicken, just dip each piece in the marinade and place directly on the baking sheet.

Nutrition Facts (per serving): 237 calories, 37 g protein, 3 g carbohydrate, 7 g total fat, 1 g saturated fat

Do you have a childhood favorite meal that you now make in your house?