Japanese Influences 

I am a big Sushi fan and love Japanese flavors. Decades ago, a friend who has been living in Tokyo for a few years, took me out to the first Japanese restaurant in Hamburg. I was fascinated. Afterward, I bought books to learn everything about sushi. I then taught myself how to make them, how to cut them properly, which fish to use, everything. The two sauces Mentsuyu and Teriyaki are inspired by a trip to Japan five years ago. 

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Mentsuyu

For me, this clear brown sauce reflects the authentic Japanese flavour: lightly smoked, slightly tart, woody. This authentic flavor is due especially to bonito flakes which are the most important ingredient of this sauce. They are cooked together with a sweet-salty combination of sake and merine. In Japan, Mentsuyu is mainly used as a noodle sauce or in soups. However, it is versatile and also very suitable for marinating fish, meat, and vegetables. It can also be used wonderfully as a dip and of course for Japanese dishes like Japanese vegetables, stews, or in combination with sashimi.

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Teriyaki 

I had my aha moment with Teriyaki in a restaurant in Stockholm a few years ago: They served grilled eel, which had been coated with this sticky, shiny black sauce. A delight! I was thrilled and went straight to the supermarket to buy Teriyaki sauce. What a disappointment!  It just didn't taste very good. I decided to make my own sauce and experimented until I managed to create my own version of a delicious teriyaki sauce.

The sweet-salty Japanese sauce is originally used as a classic barbecue sauce, it goes very well with chicken skewers for example, and is great for marinating. It can also be used for all kinds of dips, be it for fish, meat, or vegetables. Teriyaki sauces contain merin, soya, and sugar. Normally it is white sugar, but I prefer to use brown cane sugar, which is milder in its sweetness and contains minerals and vitamins.