Teriyaki
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Teriyaki (照り焼き, テリヤキ), in the Western sense, is a Japanese cooking sauce for fish or meat which has been cut or sliced and broiled or grilled in a sweet soy sauce marinade. The word derives from the word teri, which refers to a shine or luster given by the sauce, and yaki, which refers to the cooking method (grilling or broiling). In the traditional way of cooking the meat is either dipped in or brushed with the sauce multiple times before completion.
Traditionally, teriyaki sauce is made simply by mixing and heating four ingredients: Mirin, sugar, soy sauce, and sake (or occasionally another alcohol). These may all be in equal quantities or varied by the recipe. After being boiled and reduced to the desired thickness, the sauce is added to the meat which is marinated and then grilled or broiled. Sometimes ginger is added, and the final dish may be garnished with green onions.
In other cultures, teriyaki is often misrepresented, using the term for any dish made with a teriyaki-like sauce and adding ingredients such as garlic (which is uncommon in traditional Japanese cuisine) or sesame. Many of the bottled teriyaki sauces on the market are actually a version of the spicier Korean bulgogi sauce, which contains the aforementioned ingredients. Sometimes a meat will be grilled first and then a sauce poured on afterward but this is not a traditional way of cooking teriyaki.
