Meals Matter

Barbayaki Sauce

Contributed By: odonata
A fortuitous mistake!

I found a nifty shortcut recipe online once for making a fairly thick teryaki-type sauce that works really well for both stir-fry and grilling. It involves the use of catsup, among other rather, erm, nontraditional ingredients. One day, while making a batch of this stuff, I grabbed a bottle of barbeque sauce instead of the catsup by mistake, and didn't notice until it was too late -- and the rest is history ^-^ This seems to be a perennial favorite among people for whom I cook.

Ingredients

1/4 cup Soy sauce (dark or regular)

2 t Rice vinegar

1/2 cup BBQ sauce (any variety, commercial or homemade, but I prefer "honey" and "hickory-smoked" sauces)

1/4 cup Peanut (or other cooking) oil

2 t Granulated sugar

1 to 2 t Fresh ginger, minced

OR

1/2 to 2 t Dried ginger (by taste)

1 to 2 t Fresh garlic, minced

OR

1/2 to 2 t Garlic powder (by taste)

(optional) ground red pepper (to taste)

Preparation

1. Combine ingredients in a bowl.

2. Stir vigorously to blend.

3. The sauce can be used immediately on vegetables and/or meat, or, for optimum flavor, you can allow it to set for at least 15 minutes (you should refrigerate it if it's going to stand for longer than 15 minutes, however).

Cook's Notes

This sauce keeps well in the refrigerator (perhaps thanks to the preservatives in the commercial BBQ sauce). I prefer to use one of the "thick and rich" types of BBQ sauce -- but I've also found it's good with thinner variotions. It's really a matter of preference. The amounts of ginger, garlic, and red pepper are scalable by taste -- I really like a strong ginger flavor and a lot of red pepper, but have found that some people may prefer less. You can also experiment easily with adding other flavors -- curries, onion powder, a T of Sake or dry Sherry, a dash of oyster sauce, and the addition of raisins are all additions that have worked well for me. I like this sauce best when made with the thick, dark type of soy sauce, used on very rare beef (either grilled or stir-fried). Unfortunately, I have no concept of what the nutritional values are.

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Recipe Details

Total Preparation Time: 15 to 30 minutes
Ingredients: Sauces
Actual Cooking Time: No Cooking Required
Number of Servings: 4
Origin: American
Special Features: Quick to Prepare (under 30 minutes)
Make Ahead