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Home ► Recipes ► Japanese (Traditional)

Japanese marinade

Updated: 08.14.23 | Marc Matsumoto | 7 Comments

4.17 from 6 votes
Recipe

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

Japanese Marinade

4.17 from 6 votes
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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 all the ingredients together and use.
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Notes

You could probably make a lot of this in advance and keep it in the fridge as it's got a fairly high salt content, though it's so easy to make I'm not sure why you'd want to take up the room with another bottle of sauce.

Comments

    4.17 from 6 votes (5 ratings without comment)

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  1. Jamisen says

    August 18, 2023 at 1:55 pm

    5 stars
    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!

    Reply
    • Marc says

      August 20, 2023 at 9:20 am

      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!

      Reply
  2. Joseph Stifel says

    August 28, 2019 at 12:25 am

    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 ... 🙂

    Reply
    • Marc Matsumoto says

      August 28, 2019 at 4:15 pm

      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.

      Reply
  3. Shane Henry Kwiatkowski says

    December 22, 2012 at 4:32 am

    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.

    Reply
  4. Thomas Abraham says

    November 14, 2008 at 12:30 am

    Japanese Hot Pot Recipes - Oden...

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  5. Free Online Japanese Food Recipes says

    November 13, 2008 at 8:30 pm

    Japanese Hot Pot Recipes - Oden...

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    Do you know what is Hot, Delicious and yet Cheap dish in Japan during winter time? Ping Pong..the answer is “Oden”. Oden (???) a Japanese winter hot pot dish consisting of several ingredients which inc...

    Reply
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