Italians are Turning In Their Grave

Do you think that if I told my Italian relatives about this pizza I'd be blacklisted? I'll risk it!

This is the result of having pizza dough in the fridge, chicken that needed to be cooked, and a desire for Asian cuisine -- Chicken Teriyaki Pizza.

I made pizza last week and put half the dough in the fridge. By the looks of it last Tuesday I figured it needed to be used.

About forty-five minutes to one hour ahead of time, I took the dough, still in the plastic bag, out of the fridge to come to room temperature.

The extensibility of the dough greatly improved after being refrigerated for a few days, to the extent that I wanted to keep stretching it to see how far it would go before tearing. But I didn't.

On the left, that's what happens when the dough sticks to the peel and refuses to transfer to the baking stone. Oops!

When deciding how exactly to make the chicken, stir-frying was the first choice. After remembering this recipe for Sesame Chicken Salad from Anticiplate, I kept thinking about sesame chicken, specifically because of the breading. I remembered a recipe for Sesame Orange Shrimp from an Everyday Food magazine that I loved. It featured a tempura-like batter. (Recipe at end of post.)

Stir-frying spatters less than this did.

For not being marinated, the chicken was very moist and juicy. Not overcooking it also helped.

If you are wondering why the pan seems sauce-less, it's because this was the very last batch that was not used on the pizzas -- just enough sauce left to coat lightly.

When all the chicken finished pan-frying, I added the teriyaki sauce to the skillet on high heat until reduced and thickened. The amount of chicken per pizza was tossed in the sauce to coat lightly, then placed on the pizza, already sprinkled with a bit of cheese, and sprinkled with a bit more cheese.

The pizza was actually very good. The crunchy, breaded chicken (very moist) held just enough of the sauce, which had an essence of orange and a gingery-garlic bite. I was worried that I wouldn't like the chicken-pizza dough contrast, but I thought of it as an open-faced dumpling.

Despite the apparent deliciousness, in the back of my mind I kept thinking that I was committing some Italian sin. Shhh, don't tell!

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Chicken Teriyaki Pizza

Teriyaki Sauce:
Recipe adapted from: Cyber-Kitchen

• 2 ½ Tbsp packed brown sugar


• 3 Tbsp teriyaki sauce


• ¼ cup sliced green onions, white parts and halfway up the green part


• 2 Tbsp water


• ⅓ cup chicken broth


• Juice from half an orange, strained


• 2 Tbsp grated ginger


• ½ teaspoon toasted sesame oil


• 3 garlic cloves, minced


• ½ teaspoon kosher salt

Batter:
Recipe adapted from: Everyday Food

• 3 large egg whites


• ¼ cup plus 1 Tbsp corn starch


• 2-3 Tbsp sesame seeds


• 1 teaspoon kosher salt


• ½ teaspoon white pepper


• 1 or 1 ½ pounds of chicken breast, cut into 1-inch cubes


• ¼ cup canola oil, plus more if needed

Prepare teriyaki sauce:

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl; stir, and set aside.

Prepare batter:

In a large bowl, whisk together egg whites, cornstarch, sesame seeds, salt and pepper until frothy. Add chicken, and toss to coat.

Heat ¼ cup oil in a large skillet (they say nonstick; I used cast iron) over medium-high heat, adjusting the temperature if needed. Working in three or four batches, cook chicken until golden and crisp, 2-3 minutes per side (some of my pieces took less time). Transfer to a paper towel-lined cooling rack to drain. Add more oil to skillet if necessary for remaining batches.

After all the chicken has been cooked, turn the heat up to high and pour in teriyaki sauce. Cook until reduced by about half and thickened (go by eye; I didn't time it). Add only enough chicken as you'll need to top each pizza to the skillet, and toss with a slotted spoon to lightly coat. Sprinkle pizza shell with a light coating of mozzarella cheese, top with chicken, sprinkle with an additional light coating of cheese, brush crust with olive oil, and bake until cheese is bubbly and browned.

Enjoy!