Food and cooking tips and techniques:

Japanese Teriyaki

Mrs Susie who specialises in Oriental cooking for us has put together the following information about Japanese Teriyaki.

What is Teriyaki?

Teriyaki dishes are found in many different type of cuisine nowadays, even in Mexican and Western dishes. Then, what is teriyaki? It is a way of Japanese cooking. The word, teriyaki is a combination of two Japanese words "teri" and "yaki." Teri means luster and yaki means grill or broil. To make a teriyaki dish, ingredients are broiled, roasted or grilled after being marinated in or basted by teriyaki sauce. It is the teriyaki sauce that brings the shiny look (teri) to the ingredients. This is the real teriyaki, although any dish cooked with teriyaki sauce seems to be called teriyaki nowadays, whether the ingredients are Japanese or not.

It is my belief that a good teriyaki has to have shredded ginger and chopped onions in it. But since this is the only kind of teriyaki I have eaten, I admit I might be biased. My husband is the teriyaki maker in the family, so it is my pleasure to just eat it. Teriyaki should be glazed when it is finished and my husband dips the meat in the marinade many times while it is grilling. When we make teriyaki, we marinate it for at least 24 hours.

We usually make much more than we need because it is so good to reach in the refigerator and take out another piece and enjoy it as long as it lasts. We usually make both beef and chicken at the same time, to better accommodate our guests. The recipes featured at Hub-UK are just guides, so if you want to change any of the recipes, go ahead and do it. But I suggest that you write the changes down somewhere, so you can recreate it when you want to!

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Teriyaki and Mirin (Japanese Sweet Cooking Wine)

The key ingredient in teriyaki sauce is mirin. Mirin adds luster to ingredients when it's cooked and adds nice aroma. Since it is effective in masking the smell of fish, using mirin for teriyaki seafood dishes is a good idea. The sweetness of mirin is different from that of sugar. It's a perfect seasoning to add a mild sweetness to Japanese cooking.

The use of mirin is said to have begun over 400 years ago. Although it was used for drinking in the beginning, it has been used for only cooking since it was made to be thicker and sweeter. Steamed mochigome rice, komekoji (rice yeast), and shochu (Japanese liquor) are mixed and fermented to make mirin.

Mirin is clear and light gold in color and is usually sold in a bottle. There are two types of mirin: hon mirin and shin mirin. The difference is the amount of alcohol. Hon mirin contains nearly 14% alcohol. Hon mirin was available only at alcohol retailers until December 1997, but now it's sold at supermarkets too. Shin mirin has less than 1% alcohol but has the same flavor as hon mirin, so it's commonly used for cooking.

Making Teriyaki Sauce

You can buy teriyaki sauce in a bottle at the grocery store, but authentic teriyaki sauce is very easy to make. To make sukiyaki sauce, you need soy sauce, mirin, and sugar. (If you don't have mirin, you can substitute it with sake and sugar.) Teriyaki sauce can be used for glazing and marinating meats and vegetables.

Teriyaki Sauce No 1

Using the Japanese sake and mirin wines (available in most Asian markets), this teriyaki sauce recipe is simple and sweet. Use as a sauce or marinade for chicken, fish or other meat.

Ingredients

Method

Combine soy sauce, sake, mirin and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat and stir until sugar is dissolved.

Can be used immediately or cooled and refrigerated.

Teriyaki Sauce No 2

Use this as a marinade or for basting. Try to use brown sugar, if possible, instead of white sugar; the molasses adds a certain texture and quality. If you want to add some extra "bite" to the sauce, increase the measure of grated ginger.

Ingredients

1 cup Soy sauce
1 cup Sake
1/2 cup Mirin
1/4 cup Brown sugar
2 Tbs. Fresh ginger, grated

Method

Combine all the ingredients in a saucepan. Heat on stove until the brown sugar is dissolved and all the ingredients are thoroughly blended.

Teriyaki Sauce No 3

Ingredients

1/2 cup soy sauce
2 teaspoons dark sesame oil
2 oranges, juiced
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons ginger, peeled and minced
1/2 cup scallion, chopped
2 teaspoons garlic, minced
2 teaspoons sesame seeds, toasted

Method

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Refrigerate for one hour. May also be used as a great marinade for chicken, shrimp or beef.

Now all you have to do is enjoy some of the recipes Mrs Susie has published for you here at Hub-UK :