Amazu Sauce is a Japanese sweet and sour sauce. It’s made from plain, unseasoned rice vinegar, water and sugar that are brought to a low boil while stirring to dissolve sugar, then removed from the heat and allowed to cool. Variations include squeezing the juice from a lemon or two into it, or letting hanakatsuo…
Japanese Sauces
Awasezu
Awasezu is a liquid seasoning mixture used to season sushi rice to turn it into “sushi meshi” (seasoned sushi rice.) The sugar in it also gives the rice a sheen. Awasezu can also be used as dressings for salads. Base Awasezu Sauces These may be used on their own or as the base for more…
Chiri-zu Sauce
Chiri-zu Sauce is a Japanese dipping sauce used for fried seafood, for sashimi, and for white fish. It is mildly spicy because it has Shichimi Togarashi in it. Cooking Tips 4 tablespoons lemon juice 4 tablespoons soy sauce or tamari 4 tablespoons grated daikon 2 tablespoons sake 1/4 teaspoon Shichimi Togarashi 1 thinly sliced green…
Hon Gaeshi
Hon Gaeshi is a sauce used in Japanese cooking as a base for sauces and broths, such as Mentsuyu. It is a simple sauce, made from dark soy sauce, white cooking sugar (“san-on-to”) and mirin. People in the Kansai area of Japan add a bit more sugar to make it a bit sweeter. Cooking Tips…
Japanese Fish Sauce
In Japan alone, there are three different types of fish sauce made: shottsuru (from Akita Prefecture), ishiru (from Ishikawa Prefecture) and ikanago-jōyu (from Kagawa Prefecture.) All are made from fish and shellfish. Japanese versions of fish sauces are milder than those in other countries because Japanese consumers don’t like the strong fish smell of many…
Japanese Sauces
Japanese sauces are very simple sauces, compared to, for instance, the complexity of French sauces. Any cooking for Japanese sauces is generally just a brief, light simmer on the stove to reduce the liquid, and while a sauce may be an assembly of other sauces, those other sauces are all obtained commercially off the shelf….
Nikiri Sauce
Nikiri Sauce is a thin, sweet glaze that is brushed on fish just before serving in Japanese cooking. It negates the need for a small dish of soy sauce to be provided to the diner, as the chef has already seasoned the fish for you. It is used on delicate types of fish, where regular…
Nitsume Sauce
Nitsume is a Japanese sauce used with eel, octopus and shrimp. There used to be many variations of it. One older way of making it was simmering eels in a pot of water for several months until all that was left was a thick glaze. Now, the process for making it has become pretty much…
Ponzu Sauce
Ponzu Sauce is a simple Japanese sauce made from mirin, Bonito Tuna Flakes (aka “katsuobushi”), kombu (aka “konbu”, aka “seaweed”) and vinegar. The ingredients are simmered briefly, then strained, then yuzu juice is added. If you have time to make it the day ahead, then you can just mix everything, skip the simmering, and let…
Rice Wine, aka Mirin: Japanese wine for cooking
Rice Wine is a golden-coloured version of rice wine (sake) for cooking. It is called “Mirin” in Japanese. It adds a sheen to foods. It is made from short-grain rice and glutinous rice, sweetened, and sold in bottles. The traditional method of making it would take up to a year, and involved two fermentations, then…
Sambi-Zu Sauce
Sambi-Zu Sauce is a Japanese sauce made from rice vinegar, soy sauce and dashi (Japanese soup stock.) Sometimes, mirin and fresh finely-chopped ginger root are added as well. The sauce is boiled briefly, then let cool.
Sanbai-Zu Sauce
Sanbai-Zu Sauce is a variation on Japanese Amazu Sauce. To 1 cup (8 oz / 250 ml) of Amazu Sauce, you add 4 tablespoons of prepared dashi, and 1 tablespoon of soy sauce. It is used as a dipping sauce for crab or mackerel.
Seasoned Rice Vinegar
Seasoned Rice Vinegar is a ready-made version of what the Japanese call “Sushi-zu” (sushi vinegar: see separate entry.) It is a vinegar made from sake, and flavoured for you with salt and sugar. It is used for Japanese salads, and to flavour rice for sushi. Some purists prefer to always mix this combination up themselves….
Soy Sauce
Soy sauce is a dark, pungent thin sauce used as both a cooking and table condiment in Asian cuisine. To make soy sauce, defatted, steamed soybeans are ground together with roasted crushed wheat. This is allowed to ferment, then salted and aged for up to a year. Sometimes, to speed up production and make a…
Sushi-zu
Sushi-zu is a very delicate tasting dressing used to flavour rice to be used for sushi. It is a mixture of rice wine vinegar, sugar, and salt. The sugar gives the rice a sheen. Some recipes will add a very small piece of kombu kelp for additional flavouring. Generally, you use about 1 tablespoon of…
Tamari: Japanese wheat-free soy sauce
Tamari is a version of soy sauce that is made without wheat. It’s a dark sauce that is somewhat milder and mellow than soy sauce, and thicker. It is used mainly as a table condiment rather than as an ingredient in cooking. Tamari is usually aged for a minimum of 6 months. It is more…
Teriyaki Sauce
Teriyaki Sauce is a sweet, salty Japanese sauce made from mirin, sake, soy sauce and white sugar. It sweetness comes from the mirin; its saltiness from the soy sauce. It is very similar to yakitori sauce. It can be used as a condiment for dipping at the table, or for marinating, or as a basting…
Tonkatsu Sauce
Tonkatsu Sauce is a Japanese sweet sauce served to accompany Tonkatsu. Recipes to make your own generally call for ketchup, rice wine, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, sugar, rice wine vinegar, mustard powder, allspice, cloves and garlic powder. You can buy it ready-made in stores in bottles; “Bulldog” is a popular brand. Substitutes Ketchup mixed with…
Yakiniku Sauce
Yakiniku Sauce is a range of sauces used to accompany a Japanese or Korean Yakiniku-style meal. Most Westerners, though, tend of think of a garlic-flavoured sauce when they think of Yakiniku Sauce. They can be made or bought: there are many commercial brands available. Many are soy based, though some such as Akadare made by…
Yakitori Sauce
Yakitori Sauce is a Japanese sauce for barbequing. Items are brushed with it before grilling, then brushed with it a few times more while cooking. The sauce is also served at the table as a dipping sauce. There are many different versions: some will add fish stock, others chicken stock. Yakitori Sauce can be bought…