Yeh.
I know it looks like a (nice) cheeseburger.
The thing is, it is a particularly nice cheeseburger, marinated in my own Terryaki sauce before being grilled with sliced pineapple and topped with cheese, onion, and a bit of good mayonnaise.
Certainly, you could buy a bottle of teriyaki sauce, but why, when you can make your own so easily – and better?
This sauce is good for more than just particularly good bugers, tho’ – think Thai-Style Pork Stew, or mebbe a nice bit of tuna, swordfish, shark, or even beef steak – all made much more better with this very simple sauce.
INGREDIENTS
•1-1/2 cup pineapple juice
•1/2 cup cider vinegar
•2/3 cup sugar
•1/4 cup chinese cooking wine
•1-1/3 cup soy sauce
•1 tbsp ground ginger
•2 or 3 Tien-Tsin peppers (optional)*
•1 knob crystallized ginger, chopped
•1/2 tsp Cayenne
•1/4 tsp Sichuan peppercorns lightly crushed with a mortar and pestle – or a bit of freshly ground black pepper
*No Tien-Tsin peppers? No problem! Your friendly local spice merchant can set you up, or visit my favorite spice guys here. You could also try substituting a bit of crushed red pepper for the Tien-Tsin.
Stir all of the ingredients together in a large pot, bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
That’s it, Terryaki sauce.
Allow to cool, then use as you will – those burgers are really pretty frikkin’ wonderful, and the stew is nothing to sniff at.
Store any extra sauce in the fridge until needed – and you will be needing it.