Perfect Teriyaki Sauce
Teriyaki Sauce
Equipment
- Measuring Equipment (Cup/Tablespoon/Teaspoon)
- Zester
- Pot
- Spoon
- Whisk (Optional)
Ingredients
Part I
- 1/8 1/8 Japanese Soy Sauce
- 1/2 Cup Water
- 10 Grams Brown Sugar (2 ½ Teaspoons)
- ½ Tablespoon Honey
- ¼ Teaspoon Ground Ginger
- ¼ Teaspoon Lemon Zest
- ¼ Teaspoon Garlic Powder
- ¼ Teaspoon Onion Powder
- 1 Tablespoon Mirin
Part II
- 1/8 1/8 Water
- 1 Tablespoon Cornstarch
Instructions
- Zest your ginger and lemon.
- In a pot, combine all the ingredients from Part I into a saucepan.
- Over medium heat, cook until it starts bubble, which should take about 1 minute.
- Mix cornstarch and 1/4 cold water together in a cup and stir until dissolved.
- Add the mixture to the saucepan.
- Cook and stir sauce until thickened, 5 to 7minutes.
- Let stand for a few minutes to thicken further.
Ingredient Substitutions
Depending on where you live, you may or may not be able to find all the ingredients. Or, you might be able to find them but they are expensive. Fear not, I’m going to run down the most common substitutions for all the Japanese ingredients.
➣Tamari vs. Soy
Some recipes for teriyaki call for tamari sauce. What is tamari sauce? It’s a more expensive soy sauce. It goes through an additional process to sweeten it. I experimented with it, but honestly I didn’t think it improved the taste of the finished product. I preferred regular ol’ soy sauce.
Surprisingly, tamari sauce was a little difficult to find in Japan. I had to special order it.
➣Low Sodium vs. Regular Soy Sauce
Again, I’ve seen some people say low sodium makes a better teriyaki sauce. I didn’t find this to be true. Regular kikkoman soy sauce produced what I was looking for. If you have some health issues, like high blood pressure, by all means use a low sodium soy sauce.
➣Japanese Soy Sauce vs. Chinese Soy Sauce
If you don’t have much experience with soy sauces, you might mistaken believe they are all the same. Nothing could be further from the truth. There are many different types of soy sauce, and they all have their place in the cooking world. To make teriyaki sauce correctly, you need regular Japanese soy sauce. You should be able find Kikkoman internationally.
➣Mirin
This is a sweetened cooking sake. It’s quite common in most Japanese kitchens. If you can’t find mirin, or don’t think it worth the investment, you can substitute it with a Japanese sake and pinch of sugar.
Perhaps you don’t want to invest in a cooking sake. In that case, you can sub in a sweet white cooking wine. It’s not exactly the same, but it will get the job done.
Why Teriyaki?
Why bother making your own teriyaki? Really it’s just another obstacle to get over to making whatever it is you’re trying to cook. I agree. In Japan, I use Kikkoman teriyaki sauce. It’s not overly sweet and it’s the perfect viscosity for the dishes I want to make. I swear, they didn’t sponsor this post. They just make a damn good sauce, which you pick up in most supermarkets for under 200yen.
My issue is really more about when I leave Japan and try to cook those same dishes. They fail almost every time. Why? Because the teriyaki sauce isn’t right. Most of the time it’s because the sauce is way too thin and it doesn’t cling to the vegetables. I’ve also ran into teriyaki sauces that were too sweet.
The obvious solution to the problem is to just create your own.
What To Use Your Teriyaki On
There isn’t really any shortage to dishes this will go well with. A crowd favorite is doing a stir-fry. If you have a good sauce, they are almost impossible to screw up.
We have our own amazing fusion dish that we want to share with you.
Everybody wants to go to Japan… for teriyaki sauce!