Beef Teriyaki

1. Gather all the ingredients.
2. In a bowl, combine all the ingredients for teriyaki sauce: ¼ cup soy sauce, ¼ cup sake, ¼ cup mirin, 1½ tsp ginger juice, and 2 tsp sugar. Mix well to dissolve the sugar.
3. Trim off the extra fat from 2 beef ribeye steak and put them in a resealable plastic bag. Add 4 Tbsp (¼ cup) of the teriyaki sauce to the bag to use as marinade. Tightly seal the bag and marinate in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Remove the bag with the steaks from the refrigerator and let the meat return to room temperature before cooking.
4. Meanwhile, heat the teriyaki sauce. Normally in Japan, teriyaki sauce is thin. However, American teriyaki sauce is often thick. If you prefer a thick sauce, combine ½ tsp potato starch or cornstarch and 1 tsp water and whisk well in a small bowl.
5. In a large pan, add the teriyaki sauce and bring it to simmer for 15 seconds. If you prefer not to add the slurry, remove the pan from the heat and set aside.
6. For thick teriyaki sauce, add the starch slurry to the sauce and whisk over heat until thickened. Remove the pan from heat and set aside.

To Cook the Steaks

1. Before cooking the meat, make sure the steaks in the marinade are at room temperature. In a cast-iron skillet or frying pan, heat 1 Tbsp neutral oil on medium-high heat. When the pan is hot, remove the steaks from the marinade and pat them dry with a paper towel to prevent steaming.
2. Then, add the steaks to the pan and sear for 2 minutes on one side, then 1½ minutes on the other side. That’s for medium-rare to medium doneness for the ½-inch-thick steaks that we had today.
3. Pour 2 Tbsp of the teriyaki sauce over each steak. The sauce gets bubbly and gives the steaks a nice glaze.
4. Remove the steaks from the pan to a plate before the sauce starts to burn. Let the steaks rest for 5–10 minutes to allow the succulent juices to redistribute before slicing.

To Serve

1. In Japan, it’s not unusual to serve steak slices to eat with chopsticks. We eat steak along with a bowl of rice. If you plan to serve in the Japanese style, carefully slice the steaks into thin pieces.
2. I sprinkle 1 tsp toasted white sesame seeds and 1 green onion/scallion (chopped) on top of the steak for garnish. Serve the remaining Teriyaki Sauce at the table and drizzle on top.

To Store

1. You can keep the leftovers in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or in the freezer for a month.