Teriyaki Sauce
This teriyaki sauce recipe uses nine pantry ingredients and one small saucepan to make about 1 cup of glossy, amber sauce in just 13 minutes — perfect for glazing, marinating, and dipping.
Equipment
- Small saucepan - 1 to 1.5 quart pan, so the sauce stays deep enough to avoid reducing too fast
- Wire whisk - Dissolves the sugar and incorporates the slurry without lumps
- Microplane grater - Turns fresh ginger into a fine pulp so there are no stringy bits
- Measuring spoons and cups - Teriyaki depends on ratios, so level measurements matter
- Small bowl - For mixing the cornstarch slurry
- Glass jar with lid - For storing the cooled sauce in the refrigerator
- Cutting board and knife - For mincing the garlic
Ingredients
For the sauce
- 1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce - 120 ml
- 1/2 cup water - 120 ml
- 1/4 cup light brown sugar - 55 g, packed
- 1 tablespoon raw honey - 21 g
- 1 tablespoon unseasoned rice vinegar - 15 ml
- 2 medium garlic cloves - finely minced, about 2 teaspoons
- 1 teaspoon fresh ginger - finely grated
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
For the slurry
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch - 8 g
- 2 tablespoons cold water - 30 ml
For serving (optional)
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds - stirred in or sprinkled over the finished dish
Instructions
- Finely mince the garlic and grate the ginger on a Microplane until you have 1 teaspoon of fine pulp. Measure the soy sauce, water, brown sugar, honey, and rice vinegar into separate small cups, packing the brown sugar firmly.
- Place the cornstarch in a small bowl and pour in the cold water. Stir with a fork or small whisk until smooth and milky with no dry clumps, then leave it by the stove.
- Add the soy sauce, water, brown sugar, honey, rice vinegar, garlic, and ginger to the saucepan and whisk off the heat for 30 seconds. Bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat, then reduce to medium-low and simmer for 3 minutes, whisking occasionally.
- Whisk the slurry again, then pour it into the saucepan in a slow, steady stream over medium heat while whisking constantly. Keep whisking for 1 to 2 minutes until the sauce turns glossy and coats the back of a spoon.
- Remove from the heat and stir in the toasted sesame oil and sesame seeds. Taste, adding a splash of water if too salty or a few drops of rice vinegar if too sweet.
- Let the sauce cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, then pour into a clean glass jar. Seal and refrigerate, or use right away on chicken, salmon, vegetables, or noodles.
Notes
- Use cold water for the slurry — cornstarch dissolves in cold liquid and clumps in hot liquid, so never add the powder directly to the pan.
- Stir the slurry again right before pouring, since the starch sinks to the bottom within a minute and an unstirred slurry thickens unevenly.
- Choose low-sodium soy sauce: the sauce reduces as it cooks, so regular soy sauce can make the finished result too salty.
- Do not boil hard — a rolling boil evaporates water too fast and concentrates the salt, so keep the heat at a gentle simmer.
- Add the sesame oil last, off the heat, to keep its nutty aroma from cooking away.
- Grate the ginger instead of mincing it so it dissolves into the sauce rather than leaving fibrous bits.
- Remember the sauce thickens as it cools; stop cooking when it coats a spoon thinly.
- Store in a sealed glass jar in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks, or freeze in an ice cube tray for up to 3 months.
- For a gluten-free version, swap the soy sauce for gluten-free tamari; for a soy-free version, use coconut aminos and reduce the brown sugar to 3 tablespoons.
- Never reuse marinade that touched raw meat unless you boil it for at least 3 minutes first, and set aside a clean portion for serving.
Nutrition
Serving: 2tablespoonsCalories: 55kcalCarbohydrates: 12gProtein: 1gFat: 0.5gSodium: 575mgSugar: 10g
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