Teriyaki for Life

One of our most treasured lake traditions may sound a little unusual for lake life, but oh boy – do we talk about it all year long, counting down the months, weeks and days to this special meal. It is Teriyaki Night. I love that Grilled Teriyaki is a long-standing family meal during our yearly week at the lake. Let me tell you how this tradition started.

First of all, the entire family, cousins, aunts, uncles, parents & grandparents ((I will call us the clan)) goes to the lake ((Table Rock)) together. The lake week is almost always during the 4th of July. The clan started doing this almost 55 years ago, beginning with David’s grandparents (Ken & Alice) and their two young sons, Stan (my FIL) and Rodger. Several other families joined them in their yearly trek to the lake AND even to this day, we still attend with one of the families that Ken & Alice started going with so many years ago. Isn’t that amazing??

It was in those early years that Alice discovered Teriyaki — when one of the ladies served it for a lakeside meal (this would have been in the early 60’s just for reference). Everyone loved it so much that it stayed on the menu and now 55 years later we are proudly carrying on the tradition.

Of course, as the years have turned into decades and decades have added up to HALF of a century, the family has grown – a lot. What once was a meal for 8 to 10 people has now turned into a meal for 25 to 30 depending on who shows up for this most anticipated meal of the year.

With the increase in eaters, the recipe has been modified a bit — but the ingredients remain the same. I am excited to share this recipe with you & I hope you find a way to make this meal into an amazing tradition that turns up at the most unexpected time — say at the lake!

We grill about 16 pounds of steak ((I personally prefer flat iron, but sirloin is a more regular cut used by the clan)). Over the years us women folk have gotten wise to the idea of asking the butcher to pre-cut the steak into strips BEFORE packaging it up for us. That saves a lot of mess and tendonitis, haha — but really.

This photo was taken last year when we used soy sauce & shallots.

For the marinade, Alice always used this short list of ingredients:

soy sauce ((I used tamari because I think it tastes better and is easier on my tum — if you must know))
garlic
fresh ginger
red wine
brown sugar

This year, my MIL, Cheryl and I paid close attention to the quantities of each of the ingredients in hopes of documenting a more exact recipe. I will share all of those details in the recipe card below.

Before we get to the particulars, I wanted to tell you what have become the standard side dishes for this meal. Get ready — it is going to be good!! Here goes:

cheese grits
tabouli
oh and some sort of amazing chocolate cake for dessert.

Yes, I think it is safe to say this is a 3 pound meal. You know, like you leave the table 3 pounds heavier than when you first sat down??! Good thing we can swim and ski it off! That is what makes it the PERFECT lake meal!