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This is the exact teriyaki sauce recipe from Benihana’s own website. Same ingredient list, same measurements. I’ve worked at Japanese restaurants for years, and this teriyaki sauce is different from any other version I’ve made.
The ingredient list will surprise you. Ketchup and apple juice in a teriyaki sauce sounds wrong, but Benihana has always been a Japanese-Western fusion restaurant. They use Western ingredients with Japanese cooking techniques, and their teriyaki sauce is a perfect example of how that works.
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Kikkoman soy sauce. Benihana specifies Kikkoman by name. Kikkoman is a Japanese-brewed soy sauce that’s lighter and less aggressively salty than Chinese varieties. A different brand will change the balance of the finished sauce.
Sake. Japanese rice wine. You want drinking sake, not cooking sake. Cooking sake has added salt that will over-season the sauce, since there’s already a full cup of soy sauce in the recipe. Any inexpensive drinking sake from the liquor store works.
Ketchup. This is the ingredient that makes people do a double take. Five teaspoons of ketchup goes into the sauce, and you will never taste it as ketchup. It adds a subtle tomato acidity and a slight body that you wouldn’t get from the other ingredients alone. This makes more sense when you remember that Benihana is Japanese-Western fusion, not a traditional Japanese kitchen.
Mirin. Japanese sweet cooking wine. Mirin adds a mild sweetness and a slight syrupy quality to the sauce. Between the mirin and the full cup of sugar, this is a sweet sauce. That’s intentional.
Apple juice. Like the ketchup, you won’t taste apple juice in the finished sauce. It adds a light fruity sweetness that’s different from what sugar alone provides.
White sugar. A full cup goes into 3 cups of sauce. That’s a lot, but it’s what gives Benihana’s teriyaki its signature sweetness. If you’ve had it at the restaurant, you know what I mean.
Cornstarch. Mixed with water into a slurry and whisked in at the end. Traditional Japanese teriyaki is thickened by reduction, where you simmer the sauce until it concentrates on its own. Benihana uses cornstarch instead, which is faster and more consistent. The sauce thickens in a minute or two instead of 30-45 minutes.
1. Make the cornstarch slurry first. Whisk 1/3 cup cornstarch with 1/3 cup water in a small bowl until smooth and set it aside. You’re making this ahead of time because you’ll need it ready to go once the sauce has simmered.
2. Combine everything else in a medium saucepan. Add the soy sauce, sake, ketchup, mirin, apple juice, black pepper, and sugar. Stir until the sugar is completely dissolved before turning on the heat.
3. Simmer for 10 minutes over medium heat. This cooks off the alcohol from the sake and mirin. Keep the heat at a gentle simmer, not a rolling boil.
4. Add the cornstarch slurry. Give it another whisk first because cornstarch settles to the bottom of the bowl fairly quickly. Then slowly drizzle it into the simmering sauce while whisking constantly.
5. Simmer for 1-2 more minutes. The sauce should thicken within a minute or two. If you want it thicker, let it simmer a bit longer. Keep in mind that the sauce will get thicker as it cools to room temperature.
6. Cool and store. Remove from heat, let cool, and transfer to a covered container. Keeps in the fridge for up to one week.
Dissolve the sugar completely before you turn on the heat. A full cup of sugar takes a minute to dissolve in the liquid. If you rush this step, sugar granules will settle on the bottom of the pan and can scorch during the simmer.
Re-whisk the cornstarch slurry right before you add it. Cornstarch and water separate pretty quickly once you stop stirring. If you just pour it in without re-whisking, you’ll get lumps of undissolved cornstarch in your sauce.
The sauce gets thicker as it cools. What looks slightly thin at a simmer will be the right consistency at room temperature. Go easy on the cornstarch slurry and add it gradually rather than all at once.
This sauce keeps in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to one week. It will firm up in the fridge. To thin it back out, warm it gently over low heat and stir. You can add a small splash of water if it’s thicker than you want.
Ketchup adds a subtle tomato-based acidity and body to the sauce. You won’t taste it as ketchup in the finished product. Finding Western ingredients in Benihana’s recipes is common since the restaurant has always been a Japanese-Western fusion concept.
Cooking sake has salt added to it, which will make the sauce too salty since there’s already a full cup of soy sauce in the recipe. Use an inexpensive drinking sake from the liquor store instead. You don’t need anything expensive.
No. Traditional Japanese teriyaki sauce is made from soy sauce, mirin, and sake or sugar, thickened by reduction over a long simmer. Benihana’s version adds ketchup, apple juice, and black pepper, and uses cornstarch for thickening instead of reducing. It’s a fusion adaptation that matches Benihana’s overall approach to Japanese cooking.
