Teriyaki is a very simple basic Japanese sauce that has three main ingredients: sake, mirin, and soy sauce. Spices and sesame oil are sometimes added to it. The result is a thick, sweet-salty aromatic syrup that goes well with meat and vegetables. Cooking pork in teriyaki sauce is a good idea for a quick, light dinner!
How to make homemade teriyaki sauce
Literally translated from Japanese, teriyaki means brilliant fried (teri - shine and yaki to fry, grill). Foods cooked correctly with this sauce are covered with a glossy, shiny film and have an irresistibly attractive mouth-watering sweet-salty flavor characteristic of many Japanese dishes. Homemade teriyaki sauce tastes much better than store-bought, and it is very easy to prepare it.
A classic sauce can contain only three ingredients:
- rice wine sake;
- sweet low-alcohol wine mirin;
- natural soy sauce.
If you are fond of Japanese cuisine, then you usually have these ingredients in your home, and if not, they are not difficult to buy in any specialty store or large supermarket. A hitch can occur only with mirin, but as a last resort, you can replace it with rice vinegar with sugar, in a ratio of 1 tablespoon of acid to ½ teaspoon of sugar. But it is better to use the original ingredients.
Making teriyaki is essentially just boiling the mixture of ingredients. In a saucepan, combine 2 parts sake with 1 part mirin and add 1 part soy vinegar and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is thick and stringy. Do not allow sugar to burn, if it seems to you that it may start to burn, reduce the heat to minimum. It is better to cook the sauce longer than spoil the taste with burnt. The finished sauce can be kept in the refrigerator for up to a week.
You can prepare the sauce in a different way by adding a little more spices to it. Take:
- ½ cup soy sauce;
- ½ cup rice vinegar
- ¼ glasses of granulated sugar;
- 1 tbsp. a spoonful of sesame oil;
- 1 tbsp. a spoonful of cornstarch;
- 1 teaspoon of ground ginger;
- 1 teaspoon of garlic powder.
Whisk the sauce in a saucepan with a whisk and cook over medium heat until the sugar dissolves, stirring occasionally.
Teriyaki sauce is sometimes used as a marinade for meat, but this is wrong, because when you fry the pickled pieces, the sugar in the mixture will start to burn and become sticky. Instead, use the teriyaki at the last moment so that it becomes a lacquered flavorful icing on meats or vegetables.
Pork with vegetables in teriyaki sauce
This is a simple step-by-step pork and vegetable stir fry recipe. To prepare it, you will need:
- 1 cup teriyaki sauce
- 500 g pork tenderloin;
- 1 cup broccoli inflorescences
- 1 piece of ginger root 2 ½ cm long;
- 1 long carrot;
- 1 red and 1 yellow bell pepper;
- 2 cloves of garlic;
- 1 tbsp. a spoonful of vegetable oil;
- 1 tbsp. a spoonful of sesame seeds;
- salt and freshly ground black pepper.
First cut the pork lengthwise and then across the grain into long pieces up to 1 ½ centimeter thick. Cut the carrots into strips, peel the ginger and chop finely, pass the garlic through a press. Cut off the tops of the peppers, remove the seeds and cut the flesh into long strips.
Heat one teaspoon of vegetable oil in a wok or wide deep frying pan. Add carrots, peppers and broccoli and stir-fry for 4-6 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and use a slotted spoon to place on a plate and cover with foil to keep warm. Pour the remaining oil into the wok, heat and add the pork pieces, stir-fry, stirring occasionally, until a delicious crust forms. Season with salt and pepper. Cook for another 1-2 minutes. Add garlic and ginger, stir and cook for about 30 seconds. Put back the vegetables, add the sauce and stir. Cook for a couple of minutes, then sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve.
Spicy pork with teriyaki sauce
For a spicier meal, use a different recipe for the teriyaki pork. For 4 servings you will need:
- 700 g pork (shoulder);
- 2 heads of garlic;
- 10 dried hot chili peppers;
- 100 g green onions;
- 1 cup chopped walnuts
- 2 tbsp. tablespoons of peanut butter;
- 2 tbsp. tablespoons of sesame oil;
- 3 tbsp. tablespoons of teriyaki sauce;
- 1 cup brown rice
Cut the pork into small strips, peel the garlic and chop the cloves. Crumble dried peppers, if you want the dish to be not scalding hot, remove most of the seeds. Cut off the white stems of the onion and slice. Slice the green pieces.
Cook the rice. Pour 1 ½ cup of cold water over the grits and add 1 teaspoon of sea salt. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and cook for about an hour until tender. Cover, leave for 5 minutes. Then mix with a spoonful of sesame oil. Of course, you can replace brown rice with ordinary long-grain white rice, but brown rice has clear pleasant notes in taste and aroma that perfectly complement the dish. If you do decide to replace the rice, use a little more than a cup of water and cook for about 20 minutes.
Heat the peanut and sesame oil in a wok. Add chopped chili and garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes. Reduce heat to minimum, cover and simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring once or twice. The garlic should turn clear, not golden. Increase heat and add pork. Fry, stirring for 2-3 minutes, add teriyaki sauce and cook for about a minute, add white onions and fry for another minute, add green onions, stir and fry for no more than a minute. Remove from heat, it's time to add the nuts and soy sauce. Serve with rice.
Pork chops with teriyaki sauce
You can cook with teriyaki sauce not only pieces of pork, but also whole chops. This recipe hides a mountain of crisp fresh salad underneath juicy teriyaki glazed pork chunks, but for a more satisfying meal, serve the chops with steamed long grain rice.
- 700 g pork chops;
- ¼ teaspoon of finely ground salt;
- a pinch of freshly ground black pepper;
- 2 cloves of garlic;
- 1 tbsp. a spoonful of cornstarch;
- 1 tbsp. a spoonful of vegetable oil;
- 2 sheets of iceberg lettuce;
- 2 green onion feathers;
- ginger root 2.5 cm long;
- 2 tbsp. spoons of sake;
- 2 tbsp. spoons of rice vinegar;
- 3 tbsp. spoons of soy sauce;
- 2 tbsp. tablespoons of granulated sugar;
- ½ teaspoon of sesame oil.
Peel the ginger root and finely grate, add granulated sugar, rice vinegar, soy sauce, sake and sesame oil. Whisk lightly with a whisk or fork. Beat the pork with a hammer, season with salt and pepper and roll in cornstarch. Peel and chop the garlic.
Heat 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil in a wide non-stick skillet. While the oil is heating, add the garlic slices. Fry the pork in hot oil until golden brown. While the meat is grilling, chop the salad with julienne and chop the green onions into slices.
Pour the sauce into the fried meat, cook, pouring on the teriyaki pork for 3-5 minutes, until a glossy finish forms. Place rice in a bowl, top with crispy salad and top with pork chops. Sprinkle with green onions. The dish is ready.
Teriyaki pork with oranges
If you want to make teriyaki pork even more flavorful, cook it with orange juice and zest. Of course, the Japanese do not do that, but in fusion cuisine, not such combinations are acceptable! You will need:
- 12 pork chops, 100-150 g each;
- 2 tbsp. tablespoons of sesame oil;
- ¼ a glass of soy sauce;
- 1 teaspoon orange peel;
- ¼ glasses of orange juice;
- 2 tbsp. spoons of rice vinegar;
- 2 tbsp. spoons of sake;
- 3 teaspoons of brown sugar;
- ½ teaspoon of chopped fresh ginger root;
- 2 cloves of garlic;
- 1 tbsp. a spoonful of sesame seeds;
- 4 feathers of green onions;
- salt and freshly ground black pepper.
In a small bowl, combine soy sauce with 1 tablespoon sesame oil, orange juice, soy sauce, sake, and rice vinegar. Add sugar, orange zest, ginger and pressed garlic. Cut the onion into rings.
Heat the remaining oil in a wide skillet. Beat the pork lightly, season with salt and pepper and sauté until golden brown on both sides. If the meat does not fit right away, grill it in batches. Place the meat on a plate and cover with foil.
Pour the mixture into the pan in which the meat was fried and bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook for about 3-5 minutes, then return the meat to the pan. Flip over so that a crust forms on both sides. Sprinkle with green onions and sesame seeds and serve with rice or Japanese noodles.
