1. Prepare the sauce: Mix the sauce ingredients together and microwave for 10 seconds or until the sugar is melted.
2. Prepare the Chicken: Pat the chicken thigh with a paper towel. Place the chicken thigh on a cutting board, skin side down. Remove any visible fat (with a yellow hue), blood clots and tendons. If there is an excess amount of fat and skin around the meat, slice them off if desired (it will be less greasy to work with).
3. Even out the thickness of the chicken thighs: Slice just thickest parts of the chicken vertically (across the fibers), about 2 cm apart. This will help with even cooking and prevent shrinking of the meat (especially if using whole chicken thigh). 
   • Alternative: Pound gently with a rolling pin or meat tenderizer, score the thicker areas with a knife or butterfly and flatten to even thickness
   • Here is a helpful visual for preparing a whole chicken thigh.
4. Poke and Season: Poke holes on both sides of the chicken using a fork. This helps the seasoning penetrate and prevents the skin from shrinking too much. Rub the sugar into the chicken until mostly dissolved, then season with salt and black pepper. Let sit for 5 minutes, then pat dry again with a paper towel.
5. Coat: Lightly dust the meat side with potato starch. For the skin side, you can dust it with potato starch or leave it. You can get a crispier skin with a very light coat of potato starch (use a pastry brush to remove excess). If you don’t have a pastry brush I recommend leaving it as too much potato starch disturbs the rendering of the chicken that helps remove excess odour and can make the chicken skin actually less crispy and more gummy. 

Cook The Chicken

1. Sear the Skin: Add oil to a pan and turn on heat to medium high. While the pan is still cold, place the chicken onto the pan. Stretch the skin flat to avoid skin overlapping or wrinkles before placing it in the pan skin-side down. Swirl the pan and press the chicken down to ensure even oil contact. Use a spatula to press down. Sear for ~5 minutes, flipping occasionally to check for even browning. Press down on areas where its not seared evenly. 
2. Cook the Other Side: Once the skin is deep golden and crisp, reduce heat to low. Flip and cook the other side for 2–3 minutes. Use paper towel to remove excess oil from the pan.
3. Add the Sauce: Pour the teriyaki sauce into the pan. Bring to a simmer. Swirl the chicken in the sauce to coat evenly. Use a brush or spoon to baste and glaze the crispy skin. Depending on how and what you’re serving it with, you can make it so that its served with an extra crispy skin or so that the it’s glazed entirely in the sauce:  
   • Glazed Skin: If you don’t care for a crispy skin, you can flip the chicken to coat the chicken in the sauce entirely. Remove chicken, use a kitchen torch or broil for 1–2 minutes to lightly char the skin for added texture and smokiness and then glaze with more sauce. Rest for 3 minutes before cutting. 
   • For extra crispy skin: Do not baste and just swirl the chicken around the pan to fully coat in the sauce. Remove the chicken, let it rest for 3 minutes and then slice. Then drizzle some of the glossy sauce on top. 
4. Serve: Slice the chicken skin-side down for clean cuts. Plate and drizzle with extra sauce. Enjoy!