How Do You Teriyaki?
Posted on: 13 December 2019
Teriyaki sauce is Asian cooking at heart. However, this Asian sauce has experienced numerous incarnations with various other flavors added. Even if you do not see it bottled on a store shelf, there are recipes galore online for combining your basic teriyaki with dozens of other flavors and spices. So, the question is, how will you do teriyaki? Here are a couple flavors commonly blended with this Asian staple and how it affects the taste of the food you prepare.
Plum
Plums are a key ingredient in many Asian dishes. They add a bit of sweetness to dishes that would otherwise be too spicy or too salty with the base sauce. One product you could try before making your own is Bistro teriyaki plum sauce, which is excellent on duck or pork ribs for Asian barbecue. Then check out other recipes that are slight variations on teriyaki plum sauce to see what else you can do to make this flavor pairing your own.
Chilies
Thai food and Szechuan dishes use spicy chili peppers to liven up the taste of food. Where teriyaki sauce is used, these dishes incorporate the oils and seeds of the chilies with the teriyaki for extra zing on the back palate and the salty taste of teriyaki on the fore-palate. It is a taste sensation for the whole mouth, but if you make your own sauce, you will have to learn how to get the balance of chilies to teriyaki just right. Try some of the chili-infused teriyaki sauces available commercially first to see if it is something you like. Use it with beef, fish, or chicken.
Garlic
Garlic is a heavy influence on teriyaki. It does not always mesh well unless you use it with just the right meat, vegetables, and starch. Even then, you want the garlic to be a hint, and not the prominent flavor of the sauce. If you make your own, use a single, fresh-pressed clove to about two cups of teriyaki before brushing it over ribs or grilled chicken. Hibachi chefs know how to use this infusion just right, and may even recommend a store-bought sauce for you to use at home.
Check Your Local Asian Cuisine Stores
Asian cuisine shops have all kinds of sauces and taste sensations you can add to your food prep. Some are brush-on sauces while others are marinades. You may have to try several different teriyaki sauces to find the ones you like best.
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