Teriyaki sauce and glaze

Step 1: peeling ginger and garlic

Cut a small slice of ginger – about 1.5 cm thick – and cut away the skin. Make sure the piece of ginger is small, because the strong flavor can quickly overpower the sauce.

Now take a small clove of garlic, or a half clove if it’s big, and remove the skin. It’s important that you only use a small piece, otherwise the garlic flavor will stand out too much.

Don’t chop up the ginger or the garlic, otherwise too much of their flavors will come through.

Step 3: caramelising sugar

Add 50 g of brown sugar. Stir and let it meld until it slightly caremelises. Try and go with your feeling to decide whether it’s caramelised enough. Don’t overdo it! You don’t want to end up with burned sugar, so a few minutes should be enough.

Step 5: reducing the sauce

Once all of the sugar has dissolved, lower the temperature. The sauce will start to reduce, this will take 15-20 minutes. Stir regularly to ensure the ingredients are well mixed.

If you want a thinner sauce as well as a thicker glaze, pour half of the sauce in a small bowl a few minutes after the mixture starts reducing. This will be your thin teriyaki sauce.

Step 6: creating a thicker glaze

Put the pan on the (medium) heat again to make a thicker sauce. Keep stirring. If the sauce gets too thick and sticky, remove it from the heat immediately. For extra flavor and decoration, add a handful of toasted sesame seeds.

Once the thick sauce has reduced but still is fairly liquefied, turn off the heat. Pour the sauce into a glass dish or bowl. The mixture may seem too thin at this stage, but it will thicken into a glaze as it cools.

And there you have it: a thin teriyaki sauce for dipping and a thicker glaze that’s perfect for brushing on spare ribs or chicken!