Honey Teriyaki Sauce
Learn how to make this Honey Teriyaki Sauce and enjoy the flavor of Japanese cuisine. This is one of the most versatile sauces to have in your kitchen. It is both savory and sweet and the aroma is wonderful. Adapt the recipe to control the sharpness by adjusting the amount of ginger and garlic. A perfect addition to many recipes, teriyaki sauce made with honey can also be a marinade or a topping sauce. Join me, and learn how to create this delicious sauce with simple ingredients you may already have in the pantry.
Creating sauces can seem daunting sometimes. But, these types of honey recipes are actually very easy. If the flavor is a bit too sweet or strong, a simple addition or subtraction of honey amounts can make a big change.
What is Teriyaki Sauce?
Teriyaki is actually a combination of two words. In Japanese, “Teri” means “shine”, or “gloss”. The second part “Yaki” means “grill”. In Japan, it is defined as a way of cooking but in the United States we think of teriyaki as a sauce or marinade.
This Asian condiment arrived in Hawaii with the first Japanese immigrants. Here, some locals mixed in some of the food they had on hand – such as Pineapple juice, to create what we think of as teriyaki flavor.
This recipe is for the sauce version but you can use it as a marinade-if you delete the cornstarch. A marinade is not as thick as a sauce. Now that you understand our goal, let’s dive into making this wonderful sauce.
Ingredients
You only need a few items to make this delicious honey teriyaki sauce, some of them are likely already in your pantry. You may need to acquire a couple.
- soy sauce
- rice vinegar
- pineapple juice
- honey
- ginger
Soy Sauce
Soy sauce serves as the base for the recipe. Any brand will do but if you are concerned about salt in your diet – choose the low sodium soy sauce. If you looking for a gluten-free option, choose gluten-free soy sauce.
Rice Vinegar
You have several choices for this ingredient because it is such a small component but a necessary one.
“Mirin” is a fermented sweet rice wine that is commonly used in Japanese recipes. Unless you often make Asian dishes, you may not have mirin on hand.
Therefore, I am using rice vinegar and I added a tablespoon of honey to the recipe to balance the sweetness.
Other options to consider include – Chinese cooking wine or even sake if you have it. Tradition Teriyaki uses sake and mirin both.
Pineapple Juice
Many recipes for honey teriyaki include pineapple juice. It gives the sauce a bit of an acid bite and a lot of flavor. Canned pineapple juice works well.
Honey
Regular wildflower honey is a perfect way to add natural sweetness to your recipe. If you want your honey teriyaki sauce to be sweeter rather than savory – increase the amount of honey.
You can used special varieties of honey to alter the flavor – i.e. clover, orange blossom, sourwood honey etc. Some of the best honey in the world has bold flavor.
However, be careful that the honey flavor does not conflict with the savory ingredients. Personally, I think regular honey is the best choice.
Ginger
Ginger is important to the flavor of this recipe. Try to find a piece of fresh ginger root at the grocery store. It is inexpensive and worth the effort.
Step by Step Instructions
1. Ginger and Garlic : Mince the ginger using a grater. If you don’t have those, use a knife to cut the ginger into thin coins – then chop those into tiny bits.
To peel or not peel the ginger is up to you. Tender ginger root skin can be scraped off but older roots require peeling to remove the skin.
For the garlic, you can mince it with a special tool or just chop it up in fine pieces. You do need to peel the garlic first.
When cooking with garlic, the finer you chop the pieces – the stronger the flavor so keep this in mind. If you don’t have fresh garlic and want to substitute garlic powder (use 1/2 teaspoon).
2. In a small saucepan, place all the ingredients (except the cornstarch) and a bit of the pineapple juice. Stir well to mix everything together.
Heat the ingredients over medium heat to a simmering gentle boil. Don’t overheat.Overheating can damage some of the nutritional properties of the raw honey. Stir frequently to prevent scorching.
3. Mix together in a small cup the cornstarch with a small amount of pineapple juice. Stir this into the saucepan.
4. Heat until the mixture reaches the thickness you desire. Do not allow it to scorch. Remove from heat and store in container.
How to Use Honey Teriyaki Sauce
Teriyaki sauce is a favorite in many different dishes. It works well on chicken, burgers, pork chops, baked fish, shrimp and even as a marinade. If you use it as a teriyaki marinade – leave out the cornstarch.
- glaze for teriyaki chicken wings
- sweet dip for chicken nuggets
- stir fry sauce in the wok with meat or vegetables or both
- dipped cooked meatballs in the sauce for appetizer
- use as a sauce with cooked noodles
To give some added flavor and appeal, sesame seeds can be added to the recipe. When using as a glaze, brush the honey teriyaki on food at the end of cooking time or it may burn.
How to Store
Place your homemade teriyaki sauce in a jar with a lid and put it in the refrigerator. Due to the acidity, it will last for a good while (2-3 weeks). This delicious sauce goes well with so many dishes that you are sure to use it up before it spoils.
Look for more creative ways to use honey in your cooking. It is commonly found in recipes for everything from fire cider tonic to honey pumpkin pie!
If you like to spice things up a bit, hot honey with jalapenos is a special treat – and you can adjust the “heat” in the recipe too.
FAQs
The flavor is a mixture of sweet and sour but it has a salty flavor too. Think of it as a thicker, sweeter version of soy sauce.
Honey can act as a thickener due to its changing viscosity in different temperatures. But, to achieve a truly thicker sauce in all temperatures – corn starch would be a better option.
Light or dark brown sugar can be used as a honey substitute in a homemade teriyaki sauce recipe. Maple syrup is another option.
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Honey Teriyaki Sauce Recipe
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Read my disclosure.Ingredients
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/3 cup pineapple juice
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 6 tbsp Honey
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 tbsp ginger (minced)
- 1 tbsp garlic (minced)
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
Instructions
- After preparing the minced garlic and ginger, place all ingredients in a small saucepan (except for the cornstarch and a bit of pineapple juice). Stir well.
- Allow ingredients to simmer to almost a gentle boil. Stir frequently.
- Mix cornstarch with a small amount of pineapple juice. Add this to the saucepan and stir.
- The mixture will begin to thicken. Remove from heat when it reaches the desired consistency.