This is a universal marinade used in Japanese cooking. Used fresh it's great for marinating meats or fish and when cooked down, it makes a fabulous teriyaki sauce for grilled things (yaki-mono). I use this all the time and yet until today I never actually measured anything out. I tried to keep the proportions equal to make it easier to remember, it's basically equal parts soy sauce, mirin and sake then half a part sugar and some garlic and ginger.
Depending on what you're using it for (and your tastes) you can vary the proportions and of course I encourage you to experiment with different ingredients. Sometimes I'll put some grated apple or honey for sweetness, other times I'll use chilli powder or sauce to give it a bit more kick. You could also put other stuff like scallions, sesame seeds or sesame seed oil to take it in another direction.
📖 Recipe
Equipment
Units
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon evaporated cane sugar
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons mirin
- 2 tablespoons sake
- 1 clove garlic crushed
- 1 teaspoon ginger grated
Instructions
- Whisk the 1 tablespoon evaporated cane sugar, 2 tablespoons soy sauce, 2 tablespoons mirin, 2 tablespoons sake, 1 clove garlic, and 1 teaspoon ginger together and use to brush on vegetables, meats, or fish.
Jamisen says
Simple but versatile. I use this this weekly, mostly with tofu or chicken, but it could easily go with anything. Reminds me of my trips to Japan... Delicious! Thank you!
Marc says
Hi Jamisen, so happy to hear you've been getting use out of this. It's good inspiration to get this updated with some better photos!
Joseph Stifel says
Can someone help me with the name of a Japanese sauce I saw on a Japanese cooking show made of equal parts soy sauce, sake, and sesame oil?
I think I recalled it as Unagi (Unami? Unabi?) but I cant find anything containing those, specific 3 ingredients mixed in equal parts and used as a sauce, hot or cold, marinade, in stir fry and commonly has garlic, ginger, scallions, rice flour & etc. added to it.
Perplexed in Berkeley ... 🙂
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Joseph, thanks for leaving a comment. There is no Japanese sauce that I'm aware of that uses equal parts soy sauce, sake, and sesame oil, however there are two possibilities. The first is that you are referring to the sauce for the Taiwanese dish San Bei Ji (3 cup chicken) which traditionally uses equal parts soy sauce, rice wine and sesame oil. Here is a link to that recipe: https://norecipes.com/three-cup-chicken-san-bei-ji/ The other possibility is that you're referring to teriyaki sauce (also sometimes called Unagi Sauce), which is made with equal parts soy sauce, sake and sugar (this sauce does not include sesame oil). I hope that helps.
Joseph Stifel says
Sorry for the delay in thanking you for the information. After exhaustive and futile searching for a name of the sauce I’m thinking perhaps the problem was with the translation of the English subtitle of the Japanese cooking show I got the recipe from.
Shane Henry Kwiatkowski says
Thanks so much for the recipe! Great basic list, and so many ways to modify. Really happy that I know this can make a teriyaki sauce when reduced as well.
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