Teriyaki Sauce

Published July 13, 2021

Media 1 of 1
Total Time
15 minutes
Rating
4(445)
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The beauty of teriyaki sauce is in its balance of salty and sweet without the noise of sharp garlic, hot chiles or any other ingredients. You can add seasonings, if you like, or stick to the original, which calls for only sake, soy and mirin. Brown sugar gives this blend gloss and a syrupy consistency ideal for drizzling over ready-to-eat ingredients. But you could also skip the sugar and simmer just sake, soy sauce and mirin in the proportions below with your dish, thickening it into a glaze that clings to the main ingredient.

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Ingredients

Yield:About 1¼ cups
  • ½ cup sake

  • ½ cup soy sauce

  • ⅓ cup mirin

  • 3 packed tablespoons dark brown sugar

Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving

23 grams carbs; 194 calories; 2806 milligrams sodium; 5 grams protein; 16 grams sugar

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Combine the sake, soy sauce, mirin and brown sugar in a small saucepan. Bring to a light boil over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Continue boiling, stirring occasionally, until the liquid thickens and a raft of tan foam bubbles on the surface, 7 to 10 minutes.

  2. Step 2

    Remove from the heat and use immediately or refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks. When ready to use, reheat until warm and runny, and drizzle over grilled, seared or broiled salmon, sablefish, yellowtail, chicken, pork, steak, tofu, eggplant, asparagus, broccoli, or summer or winter squash. Use as a seasoning to mix into meatballs or patties.

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Ratings

4 out of 5
445 user ratings
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Comments

I make this all the time - add two more things to this recipe and you will have perfection. When you combine all the ingredients in the beginning, grate a half teaspoon fresh ginger into it and also add a smashed garlic clove.

I love you guys but the ultimate Terryaki sauce is by Ivan Orkin himself. Soy, Mirin, Sake and Oyster Sauce in equal 1/4 cup measures + 1 TB of sugar. Away you go, nothing more to be said.....

Japanese teriyaki "sauce" is actually a basting sauce that's used to baste food while it's grilling, to create a flavorful, shiny glaze. ("Teri" comes from the verb "teru," which means to shine, or glaze.) It's not a "sauce" that's meant to be poured over food after it's been cooked. And please, no garlic. Garlic is not a part of traditional Japanese cooking. You can call this sauce whatever you like, but it ain't "teriyaki" sauce.

Use as a marinade for tuna steaks. After an hour or so in the marinade, place in a hot skillet with oil and sear them hard on both sides, so they are crusted outside and cool and red at the center, then serve them over jasmine rice, with steamed greens.

Doubled this recipe to exact measurements, boiled for 20 minutes and it was thin as water and yielded 1 1/2 cups of water-sauce. The recipe doesn't really add up to begin with. As written, if you add all those measurements and you get 1 1/3 cups. There's no way you boil this for 7-10 minutes and lose only 1/12 of the volume to yield 1 1/4 cups. That's impossible.

@Kent I have yet to find an oyster sauce that isn't packed with stuff that I'd prefer not to place in my body, including excessive salt, caramel color, and MSG.

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