Make this classic Beef Teriyaki recipe, in which tender steak is grilled until slightly charred and glazed with a sweet-savory homemade teriyaki sauce. Enjoy with a fresh citrus salad and Japanese steamed rice, it will satisfy even the biggest of appetites.
Today’s recipe Beef Teriyaki is actually more popular in the US and in other parts of the world than in Japan. Teriyaki is a cooking technique: “teri” means luster and “yaki” means cooking/grilling. For this type of cooking/preparation, fish and chicken are most commonly used in Japan but pork, hamburger steak, and meatballs are other ingredients that we use as well.
Beef Teriyaki with Homemade Teriyaki Sauce
For the homemade teriyaki sauce, we start off with a simple combination of soy sauce, sake, mirin, and sugar. To give it an extra zing, I also like to add in ginger juice to the mixture. Whisk them well in a bowl and bring it to a boil in a frying pan. As the sauce reduces, the sharpness of sake softens and the sugar caramelizes, bubbling into a lightly thickened sauce. Although it’s completely optional, I swirled in some corn starch slurry to create a thicker sauce this time.
The beef steak is seared in a hot skillet or frying pan over the stovetop until slightly charred and glazed with the sweet-savory teriyaki sauce. Once it’s grilled to your desired doneness, remove the steaks to a plate and let rest to allow the succulent juices to distribute. We then slice the steak into thin pieces and serve it with a refreshing citrus salad and Japanese steamed rice.
Hearty & satisfying, this Beef Teriyaki recipe makes you feel extra special than your standard weeknight fare, yet it’s quick enough to pull together any night of the week.
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Beef Teriyaki
Ingredients
- 2 beef ribeye steak (I used Snake River Farms American Kobe Beef)
- 1 Tbsp neutral-flavored oil
For Teriyaki Sauce
For Slurry (optional if you want to thicken the sauce):
- ½ tsp potato starch or cornstarch
- 1 tsp water
For Garnish
- 1 green onion/scallion
- 1 tsp toasted white sesame seeds
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients.
- In a bowl, combine all the ingredients for teriyaki sauce and mix well.
- Trim off extra fat from the steaks and put them in a resealable plastic bag. Add 4 Tbsp (¼ cup) of the marinade to the bag. Tightly sealed up and keep in the fridge for 30 minutes.
- Normally in Japan, teriyaki sauce is thin but American teriyaki sauce is always thick. If you prefer thick teriyaki sauce, combine potato starch (cornstarch) and water and whisk well in a small bowl.
- In a large pan, add the teriyaki sauce and bring it to simmer for 15 seconds. If you prefer not to add the slurry, remove the pan from the heat and set aside.
- For thick teriyaki sauce, stir in the starch mixture to the sauce and whisk till thicken. Remove the pan from heat and set aside.
- Before cooking the meat, make sure the meat in the marinade is at room temperature. In a cast-iron skillet or a frying pan, heat oil on medium-high heat. When the pan is hot, remove the steaks from the marinade and pat dry with a paper towel before cooking to prevent steaming.
- Sear the meat for 2 minutes on one side, then 1.5 minutes on the other side. That’s for medium-rare/medium for ½ inch thick steaks we had today.
- Pour 2 Tbsp of Teriyaki Sauce over each steak. The sauce gets bubbly and gives a nice glaze over the steaks.
- Remove the steaks from the pan to a plate before the sauce starts to burn. Let the steaks rest to allow succulent juices to distribute for 5-10 minutes before slicing.
- In Japan it’s not unusual to serve steaks with chopsticks. We eat steaks along with a bowl of rice. If you plan to serve in Japanese style, carefully slice the steaks into thin pieces.
- I sprinkle a little bit of roasted sesame seeds and chopped green onions on top of the steak for decoration. Serve the leftover Teriyaki Sauce on the table for extra drizzle.
To Store
- You can keep the leftovers in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or in the freezer for a month.
Nutrition
Editor’s Note: The post was originally published on Nov 3, 2011. The contents have been updated in July 2017.
