Adam and Joanne's Tips

• Storing: Store this sauce in a mason jar or airtight container in the refrigerator for several weeks. You can also freeze it for up to three months. If it ever seems too thick, thin it with a tablespoon or so of water.
• Make a smaller batch: This recipe yields 2 cups of sauce – more than enough to keep in your fridge for weeks! If you prefer a smaller batch, use the following ratio: 1 part soy sauce, 1 part sugar, ½ part sake, and ¼ part rice vinegar.
• Substitute for sake: We love the delicate flavor of sake for teriyaki sauce, but if you cannot find it, there are some alternatives. Mirin is a sweeter version of sake. You can either swap it for the sake and leave the sugar amount as is or pull back on the amount of sugar slightly to accommodate the extra sweetness (Try ¾ cup of sugar instead of 1 cup). Dry vermouth or dry sherry can also work as a substitute.
• Can I reduce the sugar: The 1:1 ratio of sugar to soy sauce makes a nicely balanced sauce similar to great teriyaki restaurants and bottled sauces. It’s delicious, but if you are concerned with the amount of sugar, you can get away with reducing it. Reducing the sugar from 1 cup to ¾ cup or even ½ cup should work. Since the sauce does not need to cook long, you can taste it as you go. Start with ½ cup, taste, and then increase the sugar until you are happy with the balance of salt and sweet.
• Ginger: We use a Microplane rasp grater for the ginger, which helps it “melt” into the sauce. You can finely mince it, but you will be left with bits of ginger in the sauce.
• Cornstarch: We omit cornstarch in our recipe. Some recipes call for a bit of cornstarch mixed with water added to the saucepan to thicken the sauce. We find that an extra few minutes of simmering thicken the sauce enough for us, but you can include it if preferred.
• The nutrition facts provided below are estimates.