Teriyaki Soy-Based Marinade

Teriyaki has the longest track record of anything on this list, dating to Japanese cooking traditions from centuries back, and it's the marinade that forgives beginners: low-sodium soy sauce, brown sugar or mirin, sake, ginger, and garlic come together with almost no technique required. Mirin is the ingredient that actually makes it teriyaki rather than just soy-glazed — skip it and you lose the gloss. Keep the soak between 1 and 8 hours; go longer and the soy sauce starts drawing moisture out, leaving a firmer texture than you want. It works reliably across beef, chicken, salmon, and firm tofu, which is exactly why it's most people's gateway into marinating at all.