Teriyaki Sauce is made with just 3 ingredients and is so easy that store bought teriyaki sauce should be illegal! Besides being so easy to make your own, the ingredients of store bought teriyaki sauce is quite frightening. Bottled Teriyaki Sauce is not even made in Japan!
Teriyaki sauce is used for most commonly for chicken, beef and fish, but also for pork and even for offal as well. The most popular of is Teriyaki Chicken. The thick, sweet, salty marinade matches perfectly with poultry, and creates a wonderful caramelisation when seared over high heat.
My Japanese mother would rather eat plain chicken than marinated using a bottled Teriyaki Sauce, just the thought of buying Teriyaki Sauce offends her! It’s really easy to make, only 3 ingredients (plus water), just combine in a pan and let it reduce. The marinade keeps in the fridge for a few weeks so it’s so great to have on hand for quick meals, and perfect to marinade meat then freeze it (with the marinade). But because it’s so easy and fast to make, I don’t really feel the need to make a batch to keep on hand.
To use, you simply combine about 3 to 4 tbsp of Teriyaki marinade per 1 lb/500g of meat and marinade for at least 20 minutes, but preferably overnight. The marinade liquid can be used to make a glossy sauce, but if you have marinated overnight then you might not even need the sauce for extra flavour. I find that the marinade on the chicken makes enough of a sauce without having to add extra marinade into the pan.
This is a great staple to add into your RecipeTin app! Store bought teriyaki sauce simple doesn’t compare – and when you read the list of ingredients it’s frightening how many of them you probably don’t recognise!! For the minimal effort it takes to make your own Teriyaki Sauce, it’s truly worth it.
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Homemade Teriyaki Sauce
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1/4 cup mirin
- 1/4 cup Japanese cooking wine (sake)
- 1/4 cup water
Instructions
Teriyaki Sauce Marinade ("Marinade")
- Combine ingredients in a large saucepan over high heat. The larger the pan, the faster it will reduce. For me it takes about 10 minutes, but it depends on the size of the pan you use.
- Bring to boil, then turn heat down and simmer until it reduces by half. The consistency should be like a light syrup.
- Bring to room temperature before using.
To Use
- Combine 3 to 4tbsp of Marinade per 1lb/500g of meat and marinate for at least 20 minutes, preferably overnight. However, if marinating fish, do not marinate for more than a few hours at most - 20 minutes is enough (otherwise the flavour will overpower the fish).
- Teriyaki goes very well with chicken, beef and fish that suit strong flavours such as salmon.
- You can grill/broil, pan fry or BBQ/grill the meat.
- If you are cooking it on the BBQ/grill or broiling/grilling the meat, then baste each side at least once during cooking.
- If you are cooking this on the stove then just before the meat has finished cooking, add 2 tbsp of water to the pan and swirl it around to mix with the marinade that has come off the meat. Bring it to a rapid simmer and cook until it becomes a thick sauce consistency, and move the meat around in the sauce to coat it.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
