Borderless Kitchen
Japanese teriyaki chicken in a cast iron pan — two golden-brown chicken thighs with a lacquer-like glossy teriyaki glaze coating the surface, the sauce visibly thick and shiny from reduction, with white sesame seeds scattered on top and a small pile of julienned scallion beside the chicken, the pan showing the caramelized teriyaki drippings
Japanese·25 min·Serves 2

Teriyaki Sauce From Scratch (The Correct Ratio)

Real teriyaki sauce is three ingredients: soy sauce, mirin, and sake in equal parts, reduced until glossy. No cornstarch thickener, no pineapple juice, no brown sugar — the reduction itself produces the glaze. This recipe works for chicken, salmon, and tofu. The lacquer-like finish on restaurant teriyaki comes entirely from reducing the sauce with the protein in the pan — not from a prepared sauce.

Real teriyaki (照り焼き) takes its name from the glaze: teri (照り) means the sheen or gloss produced by a sugar-reduced sauce; yaki (焼き) means grilled or broiled. The glaze is the dish.

The Sauce

The correct ratio is 1:1:1:

  • 3 tbsp soy sauce
  • 3 tbsp mirin
  • 3 tbsp sake

That's it. Nothing else.

The reduction — simmering these three together — concentrates the sugars in the mirin and sake, thickens the liquid, and deepens the color. No cornstarch, no thickener. The natural sugars provide the gloss.

Method — Teriyaki Chicken Thighs

Ingredients (serves 2):

  • 2 boneless chicken thighs, skin on
  • 3 tbsp soy sauce
  • 3 tbsp mirin
  • 3 tbsp sake
  • 1 tsp neutral oil
  • Sesame seeds, scallion to garnish

Prep: Pat chicken completely dry. Score the skin 3-4 times with a knife (prevents shrinking, allows sauce to penetrate). Season with a pinch of salt.

Sear: Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high. Place chicken skin-side down. Press gently with a spatula. Cook 6-7 minutes without moving until the skin is golden and releases cleanly. Flip. Cook flesh side 4-5 minutes.

Glaze: Pour the soy-mirin-sake mixture into the pan over the chicken. It will sizzle immediately. Reduce heat to medium. The sauce will foam and then begin to reduce — about 2-3 minutes. Swirl the pan and spoon sauce over the chicken repeatedly as it reduces. The sauce is ready when it coats a spoon and has the characteristic glossy, slightly sticky consistency.

Rest 2 minutes. Slice. Spoon remaining pan sauce over the top.

Salmon and Tofu Variations

Same sauce ratio. For salmon: sear skin-side down first, add sauce in the final 2 minutes. For firm tofu: pat very dry, brown on both sides first, then add sauce and reduce — tofu absorbs the sauce into the surface as it reduces.

Notes

  • Don't use low-sodium soy sauce for teriyaki — the sodium is part of the flavor balance with the mirin sweetness.
  • Sake can be replaced with dry sherry or extra mirin in a pinch, but the alcohol evaporation step is important — sake burns off during reduction, leaving only its flavor compounds.
  • Leftover teriyaki sauce (reduced, cooled) keeps refrigerated for 2 weeks. It thickens further as it cools — thin with a little water if needed.

30 recipes and 6 master sauces in the book.

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