Most of what's sold as "teriyaki sauce" in the UK is a sweetened soy glaze that has almost nothing to do with the technique the word originally described. Kabayaki is where that technique actually comes from — and knowing the difference means you'll reach for the right bottle instead of guessing.
Are kabayaki and teriyaki the same thing?
No, though they're closely related. Kabayaki is specifically the technique and sauce used for grilling eel (unagi) and similar fatty fish — the fillet is butterflied, skewered flat, grilled, and repeatedly basted in a thick, sweet-savoury glaze of soy sauce, mirin, sugar and sake until it's dark and lacquered. Teriyaki ("teri" = shine, "yaki" = grill) is the broader technique: basting and glazing food on the grill until it's glossy, and it can be applied to chicken, salmon, beef or vegetables — not just eel.
Kabayaki tare (the sauce itself) is essentially a stronger, more concentrated eel-grilling glaze, built and reduced specifically to caramelise and cling to eel skin over high heat. Teriyaki sauce is the same family of ingredients but built to be more general-purpose, and most bottled versions — especially outside Japan — lean sweeter and thinner so they work as a marinade as well as a glaze.
Can I use one for the other?
Mostly yes, with one caveat. Kabayaki (unagi) sauce works well as a teriyaki substitute — it's thicker and more intensely savoury, so use slightly less and thin it if needed. Going the other way, a standard teriyaki sauce is thinner and will need reducing on the pan a bit longer if you want the same lacquered finish you'd get from a dedicated kabayaki glaze.
The one place it matters: if you're actually grilling eel, use the unagi/kabayaki sauce specifically. It's built to survive repeated basting passes over direct heat without burning off or thinning out, which a general teriyaki sauce isn't optimised for.
Which do I want — eel, chicken, or salmon?
- Eel (unagi kabayaki) — Shibanuma Gluten Free Unagi Sauce, 1.8L. This is the dedicated glaze, built for exactly this job.
- Chicken (yakitori-style) — a yakitori tare works best here if you have it in stock; otherwise a teriyaki sauce basted on in the last few minutes of grilling does the job well.
- Salmon, or an everyday teriyaki dish — Kōmi Gluten Free Teriyaki Sauce, 1L. This is the one to reach for as your default: glaze it on the grill, use it as a stir-fry sauce, or reduce it down as a glaze for salmon or vegetables.
A quick honesty note: most "teriyaki" sold in UK supermarkets is a sweetened soy glaze that only distantly resembles the eel-grilling tradition kabayaki comes from. That's not a criticism of the bottle in your fridge — it's just worth knowing which one you're actually buying, and why the two aren't quite interchangeable in a professional kitchen.
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