照り焼き
てりやき
teriyaki
= a Japanese cooking method in which meat or fish is grilled while being basted with a sweet soy-based glaze; also refers to dishes prepared this way
Teriyaki (照り焼き) is named for what it looks like as much as how it tastes — the 照り (teri, glossy sheen) of the sweet soy glaze lacquering grilled chicken or fish is exactly what the word describes, a cooking technique that crossed the Pacific and became one of the most recognized Japanese flavors in the world.
Teriyaki is a cooking method (調理法, chouri-hou) combining 照り (teri, the gloss/sheen of a sauce) and 焼き (yaki, grilling/cooking over direct heat). The teriyaki technique involves grilling meat or fish while repeatedly basting with a sauce made from soy sauce (醤油, shouyu), mirin (みりん, sweet rice wine), and often sake and sugar — producing a caramelized, glossy lacquer coating. The most common teriyaki dishes in Japan are 照り焼きチキン (teriyaki chicken), 照り焼きサーモン (teriyaki salmon), and 照り焼きハンバーグ (teriyaki hamburger steak). The key is the repeated basting during cooking, which builds up layers of glaze and creates the characteristic sheen.
Making teriyaki at home requires controlling the glaze timing — the sugar in the sauce burns easily over high heat. The technique is to cook the protein first until nearly done, then add the sauce and reduce the heat, turning frequently to build up the glaze without burning. Mirin (みりん) is essential for the authentic gloss and sweetness; substituting with sugar and water changes the texture. In Japan, teriyaki sauce is sold bottled (照り焼きのタレ, teriyaki no tare) and is used for quick home cooking. The ‘teriyaki burger’ (テリヤキバーガー) at McDonald’s Japan is a separate phenomenon — an adaptation developed for Japanese tastes in 1973 that became a permanent menu staple.
照り (teri) comes from 照る (teru, to shine/gleam) — the same verb in 日が照る (hi ga teru, the sun shines). 焼き (yaki) from 焼く (yaku, to grill). The 照 character combines 昭 (bright/shining) and the fire radical 灬, capturing the luminous quality of a properly glazed teriyaki surface.
EXAMPLE 1
照り焼きチキンは、甘辛いタレが絡んで艶やかに仕上がるのが美味しさの秘訣だ。
Teriyaki chikin wa, amakara-i tare ga karande tsuya-yaka ni shiagaru no ga oishisa no hiketsu da.
The secret to delicious teriyaki chicken is the sweet-savory sauce clinging to it and finishing with a glossy sheen.
EXAMPLE 2
フライパンで焼いたサーモンに照り焼きのタレを絡めれば、10分で立派な夕食が完成する。
Furaipan de yaita saamonichi ni teriyaki no tare wo karameba, juppun de rippa na yuushoku ga kansei suru.
Coat pan-fried salmon with teriyaki sauce and you have a proper dinner ready in 10 minutes.
EXAMPLE 3
マクドナルドのテリヤキバーガーは、海外にはないメニューで日本の定番として長く愛されている。
Makudonarudo no teriyaki baagaa wa, kaigai ni wa nai menyuu de Nihon no teiban to shite nagaku aisarete iru.
McDonald’s teriyaki burger is a menu item not available overseas that has long been loved as a Japanese staple.
Teriyaki’s global spread is one of the most successful examples of Japanese cuisine adapting to foreign tastes. Japanese immigrants to Hawaii in the late 19th and early 20th centuries brought teriyaki techniques with them, where the sweet soy glaze applied to chicken and beef resonated with local tastes. Hawaiian teriyaki evolved separately from Japanese teriyaki — thicker, sweeter, often marinated rather than basted — and spread to the US West Coast through Japanese-American communities and restaurants. By the 1960s-70s, ‘teriyaki sauce’ had entered American supermarket shelves as a bottled product, and ‘teriyaki’ became one of the first Japanese food words known to American non-Japanese consumers.
In Japan, teriyaki is an everyday cooking technique rather than a restaurant specialty — the combination of soy, mirin, and sake is one of the fundamental building blocks of Japanese home cooking (家庭料理, kateiryouri). The teriyaki ratio varies by family and region: some prefer sweeter glazes heavy on mirin, others use more soy for savory depth. 照り焼きハンバーグ (teriyaki hamburger steak) — a Western-origin dish adapted with Japanese technique — is a beloved yoshoku (洋食, Japanese-style Western food) item that appears on family restaurant (ファミリーレストラン, famiresu) menus across Japan.
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