Homemade Teriyaki Sauce Recipe

Have you ever wondered how to make teriyaki sauce? Real Japanese teriyaki sauce? Did you know that it's actually very easy to make homemade teriyaki sauce?

There are a number of ways that homemade teriyaki sauce can be made, but the recipe in this lens was taught to me by my mother, who is from Japan. And, as she says, "This is how we make it in Japan."

Although teriyaki sauce is readily available to buy, homemade teriyaki sauce is very easy to make. Once you learn how to make teriyaki sauce, it can be used to make many dishes, such as teriyaki chicken, teriyaki chicken wings, teriyaki chicken kabobs, or teriyaki salmon. Actually, teriyaki sauce is delicious on beef and pork as well. It can even be used on grilled vegetables or as a marinade.

So, keep reading to learn how to make teriyaki sauce.

What Is Teriyaki?

Teriyaki is a cooking technique used in Japanese cuisine in which foods are broiled or grilled in a sweet soy sauce marinade (tare in Japanese). Teriyaki is served in most modern Japanese cuisines.

Fish - yellowtail, marlin, skipjack tuna, salmon, trout, and mackerel - is mainly used in Japan, while meat - chicken, pork, lamb and beef - is more often used in the West. Other ingredients sometimes used in Japan include squid, hamburger steak and meatball.

The word teriyaki derives from the noun , which refers to a shine or luster given by the sugar content in the tare, and , which refers to the cooking method of grilling or broiling. Traditionally the meat is dipped in or brushed with sauce several times before and during cooking.Kikkoman Corp. website

The tare is traditionally made by mixing and heating soy sauce, sake or mirin, and sugar or honey. The sauce is boiled and reduced to the desired thickness, then used to marinate meat which is then grilled or broiled. Sometimes ginger is added, and the final dish may be garnished with green onions.

Teriyaki can also be served cold, as it often is in bento menus.

Homemade Teriyaki Sauce Ingredients

Teriyaki Ingredients

It doesn't take much to make homemade teriyaki sauce. The teriyaki ingredients are actually very simple.

• 1/2 C soy sauce
• 1/2 C brown sugar
• 1/4 C mirin rice wine
• 1 T fresh ginger

Mirin Rice Wine

Use this in your homemade teriyaki sauce

Mirin rice wine is a popular Japanese cooking wine, and because of it's sweet flavor is excellent to use in making homemade teriyaki sauce. Try some!

Let's Make Teriyaki Sauce!

Easy Homemade Teriyaki Sauce

I make homemade teriyaki sauce quite often in my home. It's very simple and very easy to prepare, and doesn't take long to make.

Here's how to make teriyaki sauce:

1. Combine soy sauce, brown sugar and mirin rice wine.
2. Bring to a boil and continue cooking until the sugar is completely dissolved.
3. Remove from heat and add grated ginger.

Voila! Homemade teriyaki sauce!

Refrigerate unused portion for later use.

Teriyaki sauce can be used during grilling and/or as a marinade.

How To Make Teriyaki Sauce More Interesting

How to make teriyaki sauce to suit your taste!

Once you've learned how to make teriyaki sauce there are a number of variations you can experiment with, to find the flavor that is just right for you! Here are some variations I like to use.

Substituting white sugar for brown sugar will give you a subtle taste difference. For some reason I often have more white sugar available than brown sugar. So, I'll often use white sugar.

When making beef teriyaki I like to add minced garlic to the recipe, for a little added flavor.

Chopped green onions can be added to the recipe as well.

Pineapple juice can be added to the recipe or it can replace some of the sugar. I usually add pineapple juice when making stir-fry dishes.

You can omit the ginger. I love the full flavor of ginger and the way it gives the dish some zing, however sometimes it's a nice change to make the recipe without the ginger.

I sometimes will remove the mirin rice wine from the recipe for a change of flavor.

If you like spicy, you can try adding Chinese chili paste or red pepper flakes. Flavor to taste.

Let's Cook With A Teriyaki Grill

A convenient way to grill your homemade teriyaki sauce dishes indoors

This West Bend indoor grill is perfect for grilling teriyaki chicken or any of your homemade teriyaki sauce dishes. Between the water pan below the grill and the glass lid, this grill is virtually smokeless. It also has a ribbed grilling surface so that fat from the beef teriyaki that you've marinated can drain easily, and has a solid area to grill teriyaki vegetables. This indoor grill comes with heat resistant handles. And, the grill surface and drip tray are so easy to clean and are dishwasher safe too. 

Homemade Teriyaki Sauce - How To Use

There are different ways to use Japanese Teriyaki sauce

Once you've made homemade teriyaki sauce, there are a number of ways you can use it in cooking. Grilling teriyaki chicken is probably my favorite way of using homemade teriyaki sauce. It gives the chicken a nice glazed look as well as giving it a sweet flavor.

But, salmon teriyaki is also a dish I love to make, and eat! There is something about the flavor combination of salmon and sweet homemade teriyaki sauce that's satisfying and delicious. Sometimes I use the homemade teriyaki sauce while grilling, and other times I'll just use it as a sauce over the salmon after it's been grilled and served. And, I like to top it off with chopped green onions for added flavor.

Also, there is something about the flavor of homemade teriyaki sauce that marrys well with steaks and hamburger. I usually like to marinate beef teriyaki dishes before grilling, this gives it a wonderful flavor and you don't even need to apply the homemade teriyaki sauce while grilling. And, I don't cook this homemade teriyaki sauce recipe when using it as a marinade, I just mix it together and then pour over the beef before letting it sit to marinate.

I always use homemade teriyaki sauce when making spam musubi. Dipping the grilled spam into the teriyaki sauce just before pressing it into the rice gives the spam musubi an amazingly delicious flavor!

Another way I love to use homemade teriyaki sauce is on vegetables. I don't cook the vegetables with the homemade teriyaki sauce, I just drizzle some of the sauce over the steamed vegetables and then sprinkle roasted sesame seeds over the dish. Yum!

Sometimes we even drizzle some of the homemade teriyaki sauce over sticky rice.

There are so many yummy ways to use homemade teriyaki sauce!


*Source http://www.squidoo.com/teriyaki-sauce-recipe