make teriyaki and unagi sauce.

And it’s actually one recipe that can be used for both.

Super simple and it only  has four main ingredients, 

five including an optional one.

And that fifth one is what I like to call my “kakushi aji” which translates to “hidden

taste” or “secret ingredient” basically.

I know a lot of you have been asking for this so here it is, hope you enjoy it!

And if you like the content on my channel, you’ll love my book even more.

It’s called How to Make Sushi at Home – A Fundamental Guide for Beginners and Beyond.

It has recipes like this plus much, much more.

And whether you’re a professional chef in training or a DIYer that wants to start making

sushi at home, this book is for you.

I’ll leave links in the description below for those that are interested.

Alright let’s do this!

Aright so before we start, I want to go over a little bit about what is teriyaki and what

is unagi sauce?

Teriyaki is a Japanese word that’s derived from two words; “teri”, which refers to

a gloss or luster and “yaki” which means to grill or broil.

It basically represents that shiny glaze that the sauce gives after it’s been cooked with it.

And that’s why you can have all different types of teriyaki, whether it’s chicken,

salmon, or a burger, it’s all teriyaki as long as the sauce is used when cooking it.

So, what is unagi sauce then?

It’s quite simple, it’s the sauce used when grilling unagi which is freshwater eel.

It’s called “unagi no tare” and is basically 

a teriyaki sauce, it has all  the same base ingredients.

Now of course there’s a bunch of different variations and recipes but the fundamental

and traditional ingredients are the same.

And that’s why I keep this very simple and use the same recipe for both.

But yeah, that’s a little background of the two sauces.

Alright now let’s go over the supplies and tools.

We’re not going to have much since we’re basically just mixing these ingredients together

over a stove.

But the first thing we need is a small pot or saucepan, and a spout might come in handy

depending on the type of container you’re putting the sauce in.

And of course, make sure the pot is big enough for however much sauce you’re making.

Next, we have a small whisk, I love this one and I use it a ton when making sauces.

You can also just use a regular spoon, basically just something to mix all the ingredients with.

Alright following that we have a measuring spoon, a tablespoon to be exact.

And we’ll also need a measuring cup as well or something that can measure half a cup.

Now I have all these measured out already, but you’ll probably want to measure as you

go and put it directly into the pot.

And next, we’ll need a container of some sort.

I like to use a squeeze bottle because when I use the sauce as unagi sauce, a lot of times

it’s for rolls, so the bottle makes it easier to drizzle it on top, usually for like unagi

rolls, caterpillar rolls, or tempura rolls whatever it is.

And it’s best if you have a bottle with a cap like this which keeps it airtight.

Same bottle as the one I use in the spicy mayo video.

And I think I got this at a local Asian market for like three bucks but I’m sure Amazon

sells something similar.

You can also use a mason jar or some type of container that you can seal the lid.

But yeah, this bottle works well for me.

And then of course depending on what type of container you’re putting it in, a funnel

will probably come in handy.

Put it in, pour the sauce in there, pretty straight forward.

Okay, that’s it for the supplies and tools, let’s move on to the ingredients.

Now again, this is a very simple recipe and it’s going to have those four main ingredients,

that fifth one is optional.

The first one we’re going to go through is just regular sugar, white table sugar and

this is six tablespoons which is a little over one third of a cup.

Next, we have two tablespoons of Nihonshu, better known as Japanese sake.

So, I’m planning on making an entire video about sake where I go over all the basics

and different types but this one that I’m using here is really made for cooking.

And it should be very affordable, this bottle 

here is going to cost you  around six to seven bucks.

And I do not recommend drinking this because it’s not meant for it, again it’s better

to use this for cooking.

So don’t go out and buy a 30, 50, 100-dollar bottle to use in any Japanese cooking.

Instead look for something like this.

Sho Chiku Bai is a very good brand and very  well-known, some other ones you’ll probably see

is Gekkeikan or Ozeki.

And you should be able to find it at regular 

liquor stores or some grocery  stores might carry it as well.

But again, six-seven bucks for this, save the expensive stuff for drinking.

Next, we have some mirin, and this is half a cup.

Mirin is Japanese sweet rice wine, very similar 

to sake but it’s much  sweeter and has less alcohol.

Now obviously you don’t have to get a ginormous 

bottle like this, you should be  able to find smaller bottles.

Kikkoman is a very good and obviously famous brand, but there’s a bunch of other brands

that you should be able to find as well.

And if you like Japanese cooking then I highly recommend having a bottle of this in your pantry.

We use it for so many dishes because not only does it add umami and sweetness, but it helps

get that glaze or luster we’re looking for which is especially important when it comes

to teriyaki sauce.

And next we have a half cup of shoyu or soy sauce.

The type of soy sauce I use is Kikkoman, again you don’t need a huge one like this, and

I like to use low sodium.

Kikkoman has been my go-to forever and is probably the most well-known soy sauce brand

out there, but you’re free to use whatever brand you like.

I do recommend using Japanese soy sauce though 

since the flavor profile can  change quite a bit if you don’t.

You can’t really go wrong with this one.

And lastly for my “kakushi aji” or “secret ingredient” which is optional, is chicken

stock, two tablespoons of it.

And I use the organic chicken stock from Costco.

It’s good stuff and I use it for a lot of 

cooking, especially when I’m  making soups or simmering things.

Now this is not a traditional ingredient, but it adds more flavor and gives it more depth.

Because when you think about how a more intricate teriyaki sauce is made, a lot of times you

put chicken bones, vegetables, all these other things and simmer it for a very long time.

This is a way to kind of mimic that but keeping it super simple for home cooking.

Alright, that’s it for the ingredients, now let’s get into the actual process.

First what we’re going to do is put these 

four ingredients, everything  except the soy sauce into the pot.

And if you’re following along and measuring as you go it probably makes sense to put the

dry ingredient first so you don’t have to keep washing the spoon.

So first we’re going to put the sugar in there, again this is 6 tablespoons.

Next the two tablespoons of sake.

After that we have the chicken stock, two tablespoons of it as well.

And then we have the mirin, this is a half-cup.

Now we turn the stove on to medium heat and then mix it all together till the sugar dissolves.

And you want to start mixing it immediately so that the sugar doesn’t burn on the bottom.

Keep stirring until the sugar is fully dissolved.

It should only take about a minute or so.

Alright, I don’t know if you can see here but the sugar has pretty much fully dissolved.

You can tell that it’s gotten a lot clearer and more translucent.

So now we put in our half cup of soy sauce and wait till it starts to boil.

And I like to give it a little stir here again just in case there’s some sugar left over.

And you’ll start to see the bubbling around the edges which means we’re pretty close.

Now once it starts to fully boil, turn the heat down to low and we’re going to let

this simmer for about 15 minutes.

And you want to make sure it’s a slight simmer, not a boil, we don’t any of this to burn.

Alright after the 15 minutes, we’re going to let this cool down to room temperature.

Now you can just leave it in the pot to cool 

but it will take longer since  the pot retains the heat.

So, I like to transfer this into a heat-safe 

container such as this measuring cup  and then I’ll let it sit for a bit.

And while I leave that there, I’m going to clean this all up real quick.

And boom, wish it was that quick in real life.

Okay, so this is still pretty hot to put in my plastic squeeze bottle so I’m just going

to toss it in the fridge for a bit to speed up the process.

Alright, it’s cooled down, not fully, but enough to transfer it into the bottle.

You can use a funnel here if you need but 

since mine’s in a measuring cup  with this spout, I should be fine.

And it’s still pretty thin as you can tell 

but don’t worry as it fully cools  down it will become much thicker.

So, here’s how it looks when it has cooled down fully.

Not sure if you can tell really but see how 

it runs off the spoon and  it kind of stays on there?

This is more the typical  teriyaki sauce consistency.

So again, you can use this for teriyaki or unagi sauce.

But if you plan to only use it as unagi sauce then there is one other optional ingredient

you can put in there, which is Hondashi.

Hondashi is a Japanese dashi powder made from dried bonito.

And you just mix in about a quarter teaspoon in here.

Now I know some people don’t like to use dashi powders.

It does add a little more umami and a slight fishy flavor but…

guess that’s not the best way to  describe it but you know what I mean.

But again, you can use this just as is and it’s totally fine.

Anyways back to the sauce.

Now obviously my channel is based around sushi but let me know in the comments below if you

guys want me to create some videos on how to cook with this sauce.

Some things outside of sushi like teriyaki chicken, salmon, or hamachi, anything else,

I use this for a ton of different things.

And now that you know how to make this sweet 

teriyaki/unagi sauce, check out my  spicy mayo video and combine the two.

The sweet, savory, and spicy go so well together 

and you can pretty much top  it on any type of sushi.

Try it for yourself, you won’t be disappointed.

Alright that’s it for now, as always thanks for watching and don’t forget to hit that

like and subscribe button if you enjoyed this video.

I’ll see you on the next one.

Arigato gozaimasu!