Orange Teriyaki Sauce
Making your own teriyaki sauce is so easy and it’s a much fresher, lower calorie option over store-bought sauce. This recipe yields a good amount because I like to keep it on hand—homemade teriyaki sauce should last about 2 weeks in the refrigerator. You can easily halve this recipe to make to make less.
This can be made in about 20 minutes using a single pot, so there’s minimal cleanup and it’s easy enough for even the most unseasoned (haha..get it?) cook.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup soy sauce
2-4 Oranges
1/4 cup rice vinegar
5-6 cloves of garlic
Crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
2 tsp corn starch
1/2-1 cup turbinado sugar (or any sugar)
Method:
Mince your garlic—do not use a garlic press or twist—and add it to a 3qt (medium) sauce pan (pot). Toast your garlic over medium heat until it is slightly browned and has a nutty aroma, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Note: keep a good eye on your garlic because it goes from toasted to burned very quickly.
Add soy sauce and the zest from 1-2 of the oranges (depending on size of oranges and level of orange-y flavor you’re wanting). Juice the oranges until you have 1/2 cup of orange juice. Hence the range in quantity of oranges, as some contain more juice than others.
Add about 1/2 cup of sugar, reserving the rest to add to taste. You can always add, but you can’t take it out! Add the rice vinegar.
Return your pan to the heat, keeping it at medium heat. Make your corn starch slurry (otherwise it will form clumps) by combining corn starch and a teaspoon or so of water in a small bowl and whisking it with a fork to combine. Pour slurry into sauce and stir your sauce to combine all of the ingredients.
Add crushed red pepper flakes, if you’re using them, to your desired level of heat.
Once the sugar has melted, taste your sauce and add more sugar until the flavor is sweet and balanced. Remember, the orange flavor will develop as the sauce cooks and the tanginess of the vinegar will settle, so just taste it for sweetness.
Bring your sauce to a low boil, stirring frequently, until it starts to thicken. This should only take a few minutes. Reduce the heat to just under a boil and let the flavors develop for about 5 minutes.
Taste the sauce again and make any adjustments to sweetness.
Let the sauce cool for about 10 minutes before transferring to a container. Leave the lid off and place the sauce in the refrigerator until it has cooled to room temperature. Once it’s cool, cover with lid and store in refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.