Teriyaki is a Japanese cooking technique and not a sauce as many believe. It is true that it is about creating a sauce in which the food is dipped or spread to be baked or passed through the grill, but the trick is the joint cooking of the ingredients. Therefore, it is not correct to spread the sauce over the food once it is cooked.
The result of a teriyaki cooking is the base product - chicken, pork etc - as if it had been lacquered (shiny) and with a sweet and sour taste.
Making teriyaki is not an easy task because four elements are involved, some of which are not common in Western cuisine: sugar, sake (traditional Japanese liquor), mirin (a very low alcohol rice wine) and soy sauce. These four ingredients are mixed and heated until they thicken and with the result either the product is "painted" or the base product is dipped in the sauce until it is cooked.
It is also possible to buy teriyaki in lyophilized or already hydrated containers, but generally it is not authentic teriyaki, but substitutes where elements such as sesame intervene that are not in the original recipe.
If finding mirin or sake is not a problem for you, you can make the original teriyaki recipe, but if you want to do something quick and simple, I present the recipe that uses elements that are easy to find in any supermarket.
INGREDIENTS (4 people)
- 1 Kg (2.2 pounds) of chicken cut in medium-small pieces
- Half a glass of brown sugar (125 ml)
- Half a glass of soy sauce (125 ml)
- A quarter glass of wine vinegar (60 ml)
- A tablespoon of cornstarch (to thicken)
- A quarter glass of water (60 ml)
- Half a clove of garlic, finely minced
- A pinch of salt
- A pinch of black pepper
Add all the ingredients (except the chicken) in a deep saucepan and heat over medium heat until the sauce thickens and starts to bubble. It is essential that the sugar dissolves well, so if you can't obtain that, add a little more water.
Heat the oven to 220 degrees (428 F). In a deep tray that can be baked, place the chicken pieces and spread them - with a brush or similar - with the sauce obtained.
Put the tray in the oven for 30 minutes, occasionally "repainting" the chicken with the sauce. After the time has elapsed, remove the tray and turn all the chicken pieces over, baking for another 30 minutes or until the result is visibly good. And don't forget to repaint often because doing so the chicken will appear to have been lacquered in a way that begs to be eaten.
You will repeat this recipe many times, is really yummy.