Teriyaki Sauce and Ginger Juice

Here are two more ideas from the Natural Health cookbook by Dana Jacobi. It's hard to find a decent bottled teriyaki sauce because they seem mostly to be sugar or high-fructose corn syrup. We like this homemade version quite a lot; the only change we made was to add a bit of brown sugar since the sauce wasn't quite balanced to our tastes. The other idea is a way to add ginger flavor to a dish without the texture of the pulp. I plan on making up a big batch of ginger juice and freezing it in ice cube trays. Because you're extracting only the juice from the ginger, you don't need to bother peeling it.

TERIYAKI SAUCE

INGREDIENTS
1/3 c. sake
1/3 c. mirin
1/3 c. soy sauce
2 tsp honey
1/4 tsp ground ginger or an equivalent amount of ginger juice
1-2 tsp brown sugar or to taste (optional)

DIRECTIONS

1. Mix together all ingredients except the ginger and brown sugar in a small saucepan
2. Bring to a boil over medium heat
3. Reduce heat and add ginger; simmer until the honey is dissolved
4. Taste the sauce and add brown sugar as desired; simmer until brown sugar is dissolved
5. Remove from heat and either use or cool and refrigerate for 2-3 weeks

GINGER JUICE
Grate a large knob of ginger--we use a Microplane. Place grated ginger in some cheesecloth and squeeze out the liquid into ice cube trays. Freeze and then put into a freezer bag. Use anytime you want the flavor of ginger without the pulp. You could even try adding a small cube to a glass of lemonade or any other beverage that might be nice with a ginger boost.