Sweet and Sour/Teriyaki Sauce

I tend to be something of an experimental cook. Which means that often times I'll take a recipe and modify it to something I think will be better. It's not always a very exact process. This is one of my favorite things to make. It started out as just my mother's sweet and sour sauce recipe, but has been changed so many times that it's barely the same.

My Sweet and Sour/Teriyaki Sauce.

About a 1" piece of fresh ginger- grated or minced.
1 large clove garlic- minced
1 teaspoon olive or vegetable oil
1/2 cup soy sauce (I don't usually measure this- just put it about this much)
Juice from one can (about 8 oz size) chunk pineapple.
1/2 teaspoon Oyster sauce. (this can be omitted if you want- but I like it)
1/2 teaspoon Sesame oil
1 tablespoon brown sugar.
pinch of black pepper

DIRECTIONS
1. In a sauce pan on medium to medium low heat saute ginger and garlic in oil until tender. About 2-3 minutes.
2. Add in soy sauce, pineapple juice, oyster sauce, sesame oil, brown sugar and black pepper. Whisk these ingredients in until fully combined. For a sweeter sauce decrease the amount of soy sauce and add in more pineapple juice. Leave on medium to medium low heat until it boils. Stir occasionally to prevent it from sticking to the pan.
3. When it reaches boiling turn down heat to low. Let simmer for 30-45 minutes. It should reduce by about 50%. Sort of a syrupy consistency. If you want it to be thicker, or to cut down on the cooking time, use a corn starch slurry to thicken.

And that's about it. You can modify this recipe many different ways:

Put the pineapple in with the sauce instead of just draining the juice. This gives you chunks of sweet pineapple.
I like to add about 1/2 teaspoon of sambal olek chili paste to give it a little bit of a kick. Also works with a little Tapatio.
A couple teaspoons of lime juice makes for an interesting addition. It gives it more of a Southeast Asian flavor.
Cinnamon. Just a little bit. Quite tasty.

So there you go. It's a versatile recipe.