Teriyaki Sauce

[Akiko]

It amazes me how many different ways to do this.... I've never had a recipe but have thrown things into the marinade as I please..

but after having, too salty, too strong soy taste, too sweet... I've started to watch my quantities to tweak to taste.

The best teriyaki sauce I've ever had was at my local japanese restaurant where I grew up (long gone).

But I generally put in soy sauce (regular) sake sugar ginger garlic green onions, and sprinkle sesame seeds in the end.

Sometimes chillis go in if I'm in the mood for heat.

I just read the masterchef recipe which is equal soy, mirin, sake, a little sugar... and that is it. I can't imagine teriyaki sauce without a little ginger.

How do you make yours?

[torakris]

I make mine similar to that masterchef recipe

2/3 cup soy

2/3 cup sake

2/3 cup mirin

1 to 2 Tablespoons of sugar

I make a huge batch and keep it in the regriferator for quite a while so I don't add anything else, this way also I can doctor it up a bit depending on my feeling. Some ginger, some scallion, some garlic, some pineapple , or a little of everything. It is a great base sauce and great on its own.

[DavidJS]

I thought teriyaki was a gai-jin invention?!?

Edited April 19, 2003 by DavidJS (log)

[torakris]

I thought teriyaki was a gai-jin invention?!?

nope, teriyaki is truely Japanese.

the variations with tons of sugar and things like pineapple is the gaijin twist on it!

[Jinmyo]

I use shoyu and sake in equal parts, half that for mirin. Then ginger or scallions or chiles or any combination thereof.

[DavidJS]

I usually avoid teriyaki dishes since no one makes it right. In NYC it's common to see it for lunch box among (un-authentic) Japanese restaurant. But it's a a good introduction for non-sophisticated Japanese cuisine among most gai-jins. Like my younger brother who prefers to eat at 'Teriyaki Boy' (Jap fastfood chain) than some chi chi Japanese restaurant.

Jinmyo, your formula for teriyaki sounds very Korean - spicy! Morimoto would be proud.

Pineapple sounds interesting is that using the juice or chunks. Could pass as a Hawaiian Teriyaki dish.

[smallworld]

Yeah, teriyaki is Japanese, but I've heard that modern variations all came from overseas. Originally teriyaki was made by grilling fish until half-done, and only then brushing on the teriyaki sauce several times until glistening (the 'teri' in teriyaki means to glisten or glitter). Using chicken and beef and cooking in a frying pan were all tried (the story goes) by Japanese chefs working in America, and the wild popularity of these new-fangled ways eventually reached back to Japan and now chicken teriyaki made in a frying pan is a standard Japanese dish.

Still, it's not nearly as popular here in Japan is it is overseas. I've only made it once- the old-fashioned grilled fish kind, with the same sauce Torakris uses, and it was really really good. I think I better try it again.

[torakris]

Teriyaki chicken last night!

I used the recipe for the sauce I posted above. I wasn't planning on taking a picture of which is why it looks like it was just dumped in the dish, but since I was taking pictures of the rest of the meal I though what the hell...

[Anna N]

Teriyaki chicken last night!

←

It makes me hungry just looking at it!

[Shel_B]

This morning I made my first batch of Teriyaki sauce, and since I had never made it before, and so many of the recipes and techniques I read varied, I just went with the standard proportions and used what was on hand.

 

1/2 cup Ozeki saki

1/2 cup Kikkoman Aji Mirin

1/2 cup Kikkoman mild (lower sodium) soy sauce

1/4 cup granulated sugar

 

Into a saucepan, brought to a mild boil, simmered for 10-12 minutes until slightly thickened, and poured the whole thing into a waiting Mason jar.

 

The first thing that I noticed was that the sauce became more mellow after heating, flavors more homogenous, sharp edges softened, and the sweetness, while still there, seemed, for lack of better phraseology, gentler.

 

I didn't want to add any additional flavors to the sauce, although I next want to try the same recipe and add some ginger juice to it.  It's also time to start looking at ingredient choices. The Ozeki sake was recommended by a good Japanese cook, but the other ingredients were bought for convenience, off the shelf in a local market.

 

If you make Teriyaki sauce at home, what do you use for the mirin, sake, and soy sauce? By how much do you reduce the sauce?

 

One brief comment: even though this was a first attempt, the results were more than acceptable and beter than the (few) prepared sauces I've tried. I'm really looking forward to trying different ingredients and experimenting with technique.

Edited June 18 by Shel_B (log)