Ultimately, while teriyaki is of Japanese descent and a traditional method of preparing and cooking meats, the origins of the classic teriyaki dish that we know and consume today is Japanese-American. It is the by-product of American colonization, immigration patterns, and cultural collaboration.

In Japanese cooking, teriyaki is prepared by brushing on the sweet soy-sauce-based glaze in the last stages of grilling fish, chicken, beef, pork or vegetables, usually over an open fire. The final basting stages not only make the food glisten but also add flavor.

to many food items in Japanese cuisine. The word teriyaki refers to a method of cooking and combines the words “teri,” meaning luster or gleam, and “yaki,” meaning grilled or broiled. History. Teriyaki cooking methods have been used for centuries, beginning in the Tokugawa (or Edo) period.