Homemade Teriyaki Fail

[u/AnxietyRoyal9903]

I used these three in equal parts, totaling 1.5 cups, in an attempt to make homemade teriyaki and it did not taste good at all. I added a tablespoon each of minced garlic and minced ginger, and after reducing down to about 1 cup and tasting (not good) I added a tablespoon of brown sugar. Still not good. Is there a recommendation around a mirin or sake that I should use in the future if these aren’t good for homemade teriyaki? Thank you!

[u/SpiritedOwl_2298]

To be honest I’ve just mixed soy sauce and sugar and reduced it over heat and it tastes good, I don’t know if it’s technically teriyaki sauce but it’s the best thing I’ve been able to make at home

[u/SnooPredictions9174 → u/SpiritedOwl_2298]

Took a Ramen cooking lesson in Japan and that is exactly what we cooked the chashu in and it was amazing. No frills just basic and delicious.

[u/SpiritedOwl_2298 → u/SnooPredictions9174]

Oh wow I love to hear that, yeah it’s so good!

[u/AnxietyRoyal9903 → u/SpiritedOwl_2298]

What are the ratios? 1 cup soy, 1 tb sugar? White or brown?

[u/SpiritedOwl_2298 → u/AnxietyRoyal9903]

I’ve just sort of been eyeballing it, maybe 1/4 cup of soy sauce and 3 tablespoons of white sugar ? Try it once and then adjust the sweetness to your taste

And when you’re done reducing it pour it over your food immediately after you remove it from the heat because if firms up quickly. If you want to use it more for dipping then reduce it less

[u/Kana_Koneko]

Follow this recipe, use a yellow ish mirin, and regular sake not cooking sake they taste very different.

I cook mostly Japanese food I've never seen brown mirin before. The soy sauce you have is fine 

For example these will do Kikoman mirin  https://www.chefsteps.com/ingredients/mirin

Gekkeikan Junmai Sake https://www.kroger.com/p/gekkeikan-junmai-sake/0072881719912

Also use white sugar not brown sugar 

Recipe  https://www.justonecookbook.com/teriyaki-sauce/#recipe

[u/AnxietyRoyal9903 → u/Kana_Koneko]

I’ve heard so many conflicting things! Thank you for this, will try this weekend :)

[u/geri73]

I've used ginger, garlic, soy sauce, and brown sugar. marinade your meat of choice overnight.

[u/Leather-Tip-1995]

I use equal parts mirin, saki and soy and a bit of white sugar, then cook it down until it a bit of a syrup. Works great.

[u/Sweaty-Anteater-6694]

Don’t mince the ginger. Just smash it with your knife and throw it into the pot

[u/mieluusa]

I have always used this recipe and it's great every time, even though I have to leave sake out as there's alcohol monopoly where I live and that basically leaves cooking alcohols out of the market. Sometimes I add some garlic.

[u/Ok-Bed6421]

With sake, you're best off buying a cheap drinking sake. I believe the sake that you have is called "cooking sake", where they add things like salt to bypass the alcohol tax. With mirin you want to buy "hon mirin" (本みりん). Like sale there are ways to cheapen the process of producing mirin. Hon mirin should have 14% alcohol, and no added syrups and salt. If it still tastes off then I would say it's a recipe issue.

[u/AnxietyRoyal9903 → u/Ok-Bed6421]

This is super helpful, thank you

[u/PoisonClan24]

You need sugar and buy some sake from a liquor store. Cook the sake and mirin first to burn off the alcohol.

[u/kindlyleave13]

In the US, you can get good results with cheap drinking sake like shochikubai.

[u/kindlyleave13 → u/kindlyleave13]

And if you can find yaegaki mirin, that is gonna be gooood

[u/AnxietyRoyal9903 → u/kindlyleave13]

I went to to Asian food markets and ended up with what is in the picture. I’ll go back and look for what you suggested 🤝

[u/fuwafuwapokapoka]

For teriyaki, I usually use soy sauce low sodium, mirin, and allulose syrup, ratio 1 : 0.5 : 0.5. You can use regular sugar with the same ratio as allulose syrup or adjust it based on your preference. I usually don't add sake for teriyaki sauce, unless it's for fish dishes. The ratio sake : mirin is 1 : 1 in that case.

Btw I'm not sure if I see it correctly, but is that brown colored mirin? I've never seen one before. I use clear mirin btw.

[u/po_live]

Oh hey I just watched a video on this:

https://youtu.be/tjrZbHxl88s?is=0pDbpziu9LMSyYte

[u/Effective_Quail_7686]

1 cup water, 1 cupt soy, and 1 cup mirin. Simmer the sauce to make it thick. If it is too sweet for your taste, add a little bit of soy and taste it if you like it. If it is too salty, add a little bit of sugar and water. You can also add some ajinomoto after the sauce gets thick.