Teriyaki Sauce | Greedy Gourmet

Q: What's the difference between Japanese and American Teriyaki Sauce?

Japanese Teriyaki Sauce is traditionally made with soy sauce, sake, mirin, and sugar, focusing on a simple and balanced blend of flavors. It is cooked down and reduced in a pan to achieve a medium thickness without using cornstarch or other thickening agents. The resulting sauce is subtly sweet, salty, and umami, allowing the natural taste of the ingredients to shine through. American Teriyaki Sauce often includes soy sauce, sugar, garlic, ginger, cornstarch, or honey for thickening, resulting in a thicker, syrupy consistency. This version tends to be sweeter and more intensely flavored, with additional seasonings creating a robust and rich profile. It is commonly used as a marinade, glaze, or dipping sauce, especially in American-Asian fusion dishes.

Question 1

What is teriyaki sauce?

Accepted Answer

A deliciously thick and sticky Japanese sauce that's popular worldwide, teriyaki sauce is made using soy sauce, mirin, sake, sugar, and sometimes a splash of water and a dash of cornstarch or potato starch.

Question 2

What does teriyaki sauce taste like?

Accepted Answer

This homemade teriyaki sauce tantalizes your taste buds with a beautiful blend of flavors, including salty, savory, sweet, and umami sensations.

Question 3

How is teriyaki sauce traditionally made?

Accepted Answer

Homemade teriyaki sauce is typically made by mixing and heating three simple ingredients: soy sauce, mirin, and sake. Other ingredients can be added, including sugar, water, cornstarch, potato starch, fresh ginger, and fresh garlic or garlic powder.

Question 4

What are the key ingredients of teriyaki sauce?

Accepted Answer

You can buy the main teriyaki sauce ingredients from your local Asian supermarket or any large supermarket. The main ingredients are:

Soy sauce
This adds that much-needed salty, umami flavor. Dark or light soy sauce will work just fine. Don't forget, you can make this recipe gluten-free by using gluten-free soy sauce.

Mirin
Also known as Japanese rice wine, this adds a tangy, subtly sweet flavor to homemade teriyaki sauce.

Sake
This popular refined Japanese rice wine packs and punch. It has a mild taste with a touch of bitterness and acidity and balances the flavor profile of homemade teriyaki sauce.

Question 5

What's the difference between store bought teriyaki sauce and homemade teriyaki sauce?

Accepted Answer

Store-bought teriyaki can contain corn syrup and other ingredients such as unnatural preservatives, whereas homemade teriyaki sauce is made from only three ingredients and is cheaper.

Question 6

Is teriyaki sauce gluten free?

Accepted Answer

Teriyaki sauce is usually not gluten-free. That's because it contains soy sauce, which typically contains wheat.

However, you can make a gluten-free version of this easy teriyaki sauce recipe by using a gluten-free soy sauce, such as tamari.

Question 7

Is teriyaki sauce and yakitori sauce the same thing?

Accepted Answer

No, there are subtle differences.

While they both use soy sauce as a foundational ingredient, teriyaki sauce includes cornstarch or potato starch, which gives it a thicker texture.

Teriyaki sauce also sometimes contains fresh ginger and garlic, giving it an earthy depth to it.

Question 8

What's the difference between Japanese and American Teriyaki Sauce?

Accepted Answer

Japanese Teriyaki Sauce is traditionally made with soy sauce, sake, mirin, and sugar, focusing on a simple and balanced blend of flavors. It is cooked down and reduced in a pan to achieve a medium thickness without using cornstarch or other thickening agents. The resulting sauce is subtly sweet, salty, and umami, allowing the natural taste of the ingredients to shine through.

American Teriyaki Sauce often includes soy sauce, sugar, garlic, ginger, cornstarch, or honey for thickening, resulting in a thicker, syrupy consistency. This version tends to be sweeter and more intensely flavored, with additional seasonings creating a robust and rich profile. It is commonly used as a marinade, glaze, or dipping sauce, especially in American-Asian fusion dishes.

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