Valentina's Corner
Hibachi ginger sauce is a traditional Asian dipping sauce used for a variety of Asian dishes. It’s made with soy sauce, garlic, ginger, vinegar and brown sugar to add sweet notes to the flavor.
The sauce may be enjoyed with classic hibachi chicken or steak or even hibachi rice.
Hibachi Ginger Sauce
Hibachi ginger sauce is a take on the classic your favorite Japanese steakhouse sauce served with steak, seafood, and vegetables. It is lightly sweetened with brown sugar and has a pleasant spice from the ginger and garlic. You’ll love how quick it is to make and how versatile the sauce is for your favorite Japanese-inspired dishes.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Quick to make. The sauce comes together in just five minutes to quickly amplify the flavor of any dish!
- Steakhouse quality. The flavors of the ginger sauce recipe will remind you of your favorite steakhouse while you’re enjoying a healthy, homemade meal!
- Compliments a variety of dishes. The ginger sauce can be used for steaks, seafood, fried rice, vegetables, and more!
- Minimal ingredients. You only need 6 ingredients to make this sauce and nothing that you probably don’t already have in your kitchen.
Hibachi Ginger Sauce Ingredients
The ginger sauce for hibachi uses just five ingredients that are sure to already be in your kitchen!
- Garlic & ginger- are classics in Asian cuisine and give the sauce its authentic flavor. Opt for fresh ginger root and garlic rather than ground for the best flavor.
- Soy sauce- use low-sodium soy sauce as the base of the hibachi sauce.
- Brown sugar- gives the sauce some sweetness to balance the soy sauce and garlic and ginger.
- Cornstarch- works to thicken the sauce.
For a full list of ingredients and quantities, see the recipe card below.
How to Make Hibachi Ginger Sauce
To make one cup of ginger hibachi sauce, follow these instructions:
- Prep garlic and ginger: Start by grating the ginger on a microplane grater. Then, mince the garlic.
- Mix together the ingredients: In a small bowl, mix together the ginger, garlic, soy sauce, brown sugar, cornstarch, and vinegar. Tip: To save time, add all ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth.
- Cook: Before serving, add sauce to a medium saucepan over medium heat, cook until sauce thickens.
- Serve and enjoy, friends!
Substitutions and Variations
The sauce is great as is, but swap out some ingredients as desired, using these guidelines.
- Pre-grated ginger: To make the recipe go even faster, buy jarred, pre-grated ginger.
- Use tamari: Tamari can be used in place of soy sauce, and will yield great flavor, especially if you use the sauce for dipping!
- Honey: Easily substitute brown sugar for honey.
- Rice vinegar: If you have rice vinegar, it may be used instead of white vinegar.
Serving Suggestions
There are countless ways to use this sauce, here are some ideas to get you started.
- With seafood: Traditionally, hibachi ginger sauce is used as a sauce for seafood dishes made with shrimp or fish like salmon. Use it as a topping or dip for your favorite seafood meals.
- Grilled vegetables: Use the sauce in stir-frying as a topping for basic grilled or roasted vegetables to amplify the flavor.
- Mix into fried rice or noodles: Add this sauce to fried rice, add as a topping on top of basic white rice with a side of chicken, or on top of a chicken and noodle dish.
- Dip for egg rolls: Use the hibachi sauce as a dip for egg rolls, either homemade or store-bought.
- Egg salad: Drizzle the sauce over an egg salad or add to an egg salad sandwich for Asian flavor.
- With protein: With chicken or hibachi steak.
REcipe FAQs
The sauce must be cooked over medium heat in order to thicken. It will thicken as it cooks and will thicken even further as it cools.
Hibachi typically is made with just soy sauce as teriyaki sauce is typically sweetened and is more of a glaze consistency.
The sauce can be served either way, totally dependent upon your preference and what you are using it for. If serving as a dipping sauce, you may want to serve it cool. If using as a sauce to coat chicken, serve warm.
Ground ginger is more potent than fresh ginger. If you opt to use ground ginger, start with less ginger, about half a teaspoon, and adjust to taste.
You can make the sauce up to 3 days in advance and store it refrigerated until ready to serve.
Store & Freeze
- Storage. The sauce will store for up to one week in the refrigerator.
- Freeze. To freeze, add room temperature sauce to a freezer-safe container and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge before serving.
- Reheat. You can add the sauce to a small saucepan and reheat over low heat until reheated.
More Sauce Recipes
If you’re looking for other sauce recipes, check out these other popular favorites:
Hibachi Ginger Sauce (Japanese Steakhouse)
Ingredients
- 2 tsp freshly grated ginger
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 3/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1 tsp cornstarch
- 2 tsp white vinegar
Instructions
- Grate the ginger with a microplane grater and mince the garlic.
- In a bowl, whisk together the ginger, garlic, soy sauce, brown sugar, cornstarch and vinegar.
- Before serving, add sauce to a saucepan and cook until it thickens. Then, use it as desired.
- Serve and enjoy, friends!
Notes
Storage: Store the sauce in the fridge for up to one week.