Teriyaki sauce is one of the easiest sauces you can make yourself. Four ingredients, one saucepan and ten minutes – that's all it takes for a glossy, sweet-and-salty sauce that elevates everything from salmon to chicken thighs.
What is teriyaki?
Teriyaki is actually not the name of a sauce, but of a Japanese cooking method: "teri" means luster, and "yaki" means grilled or fried. Meat or fish is brushed with a sweet-and-salty soy-based sauce while it cooks, so it caramelizes and gets a glossy, golden surface.
The classic Japanese version consists of equal parts soy sauce, mirin and sake, plus sugar. Outside Japan, "teriyaki sauce" has become a catch-all term for thicker sauces with garlic, ginger and sesame – good in their own right, but the basic recipe below is the simple, Japanese version.
What you need
- 100 ml soy sauce (Japanese style, preferably Kikkoman)
- 100 ml mirin (sweet Japanese rice wine)
- 50 ml sake – or just water
- 2–3 tbsp sugar
You'll find mirin and sake in our Japanese kitchen category. If you don't have mirin, you can use 50 ml water and add an extra tablespoon of sugar – it won't be quite the same, but still good.
How to make teriyaki sauce
- Put the soy sauce, mirin, sake (or water) and sugar in a small saucepan.
- Heat over medium heat and stir until the sugar has dissolved.
- Let the sauce simmer uncovered for 5–10 minutes until it has reduced by about a third and is just starting to thicken.
- Take the pan off the heat. The sauce thickens more as it cools – it should be like a thin syrup, not like ketchup.
If you want a thicker sauce right away, you can dissolve half a teaspoon of cornstarch in a little cold water and whisk it in toward the end. If you like more flavor, add grated ginger or a finely chopped garlic clove along with the rest.
What do you use teriyaki sauce for?
Salmon: Pan-fry salmon fillets until almost done, pour over a few tablespoons of sauce and let it bubble for a minute until the fish is glossy and glazed. Serve with rice – jasmine rice or Japanese short-grain rice is perfect.
Chicken: Classic teriyaki chicken is made with chicken thighs fried until golden, before the sauce is poured into the pan and reduced to a sticky glaze around the meat.
Stir-fries and fried rice: Use a couple of tablespoons as a flavoring in a vegetable stir-fry, or drizzle over finished fried rice. Try it in our fried rice recipe.
Vegetables and tofu: Teriyaki works wonders for fried eggplant, mushrooms and crispy tofu.
Storage
Pour the cooled sauce into a clean jar with a lid and keep it in the fridge. It keeps for two to three weeks. The sauce can also be frozen, but with such a short cooking time it's just as easy to make a fresh batch when you need it.
Would you rather buy it ready-made?
Some days dinner just needs to be quick. For those, we have a large selection of ready-made teriyaki sauces and other Asian sauces in our stores at Holmen and Røa and in our online store. A good soy sauce is the foundation either way – read our guide how to use soy sauce if you're unsure which type to choose.
Frequently asked questions
What can I use instead of mirin?
Use the same amount of water and a little extra sugar, or dry sherry with a pinch of sugar. Rice vinegar with sugar also works in a pinch, but then use only half as much.
Does teriyaki sauce contain alcohol?
Mirin and sake contain alcohol, but most of it cooks off during the reduction. If you want to avoid alcohol entirely, use water instead of sake and an alcohol-free mirin substitute or a little extra sugar.
Why isn't my sauce getting thick?
It needs either a longer cooking time or more sugar – it's the sugar that creates the syrupy consistency as the sauce reduces. Also remember that the sauce thickens considerably as it cools. The shortcut is half a teaspoon of cornstarch dissolved in cold water.
Is teriyaki sauce gluten-free?
Regular soy sauce is brewed with wheat, so the standard recipe is not gluten-free. Switch to tamari, which is made without wheat, and the sauce becomes gluten-free.
Buy ready-made teriyaki sauce
If you'd rather skip the cooking, we have around thirty varieties in our teriyaki range – from thin marinades to thick glazes. See also soy sauce and Japanese food.
