Hi Tami, I'm so happy to hear this was able to help you out! Great idea adding some chilies to spice it up! We've got a ton of other popular Japanese recipes on here so I hope you have a chance to look around and try some others out😄

Hi Tim, I'm glad you enjoy the addition of ginger juice! Another way you can go about getting ginger flavor without clouding the sauce is to marinate the protein with ginger juice before cooking. The flavor soaks into the meat without clouding the sauce.

One time I was out of sake and I tried replacing it with Shaoxing Wine which is a chinese rice wine and could barely tell the difference. Although if you don't have sake you probably don't have Shaoxing Wine either.

Maki turned me onto teriyaki eggs too and I love them!

My daughter actually asks for this dish, which is a Big Deal to me! We all love it, too. I spent years trying to figure out how my local Japanese restaurant got their Teriyaki to taste so good. With your help I have surpassed their flavors! Thanks to you I now understand fully the processes involved in getting the flavors just right. My husband has fallen in love with Maki's Teriyaki Eggs from Ultimate Bento for his lunch. https://books.google.com/books?id=prD_DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT58&lpg=PT58&dq=maki+ogawa+teriyaki+eggs+recipe&source=bl&ots=SoHvxNEN1a&sig=ACfU3U2xAsLO3ORX87ijF6FasAGPuOzcCA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiOwr6S8PH6AhXSKUQIHXFbB6k4ChDoAXoECAIQAw#v=onepage&q=maki%20ogawa%20teriyaki%20eggs%20recipe&f=false We both loved the sauce on Atsuage, too.

Good point. Didn't think of the caramelization and the bitterness in offsetting the sweetness. I'll reduce the sugar for now and assess to see if it needs extra sugar after I use it.

Hi Kelvin, there's a couple of things that could be going on here. The first is that you do indeed like teriyaki sauce less sweet, in which case you can reduce the amount of sugar, but the sauce will not thicken as well (the thickness comes from the sugar caramelizing). The second possibility is that you haven't reduced the sauce enough to caramelize the sugar. As sugar is heated, sucrose breaks down into glucose and fructose, and as they're further heated, the break down into other molecules which we perceive was the earthy and bitter flavors in caramel. You don't want to overdo it to the point it tastes burnt, but getting enough caramelization in the sauce not only helps thicken it, it also makes it less sweet.