Tag Archive: Soy Sauce

Thai Sesame Peanut Sauce

April 26th 027

Some foods I could eat at every meal. Peanut butter is one of them. My favorite peanut dish has always been Pad Thai with that rich, silky sweet sauce. As a rule, the best Pad Thai usually comes from the sketchiest restaurants where you’re not really sure what they’re cooking with and you’re not sure you want to know.

But this recipe wasn’t inspired from a Thai restaurant; it comes from Ina Garten. One episode, Ina was making a lunch for some couple that paid a God awful amount of money at a charity auction to have lunch with her. The worst part was the pants the husband(not Jeffrey) was wearing; they were turquoise with some yellow nautical pattern—God, I wanted to turn off the TV right there.

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But I’m glad I didn’t because Ina made an Asian noodle salad that sounded too good to pass up. This weekend I grabbed some foreign ingredients I don’t normally keep around(tahini, roasted red chili paste) and tried to imitate the recipe as best I could from memory. If you can’t find roasted red chili paste, it’s basically just red chilis, fish sauce, garlic, and a heck of a lot of sodium. The unique flavor really helps add a lot of depth without much effort.

Thai Sesame Peanut Sauce

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup peanut butter
  • 1/4 cup raw or roasted tahini
  • 2 Tablespoons soy sauce
  • 4 teaspoons Thai Kitchen roasted red chili paste
  • 1 Tablespoon honey
  • 1 Tablespoon toasted sesame oil
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder(optional)

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Combine all the ingredients together and whisk until emulsified. Add more salt to taste if necessary. If the sauce isn’t hot enough, continue adding chili powder until it reaches your desired spice level.

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After that you can smother this on grilled chicken, or toss it with noodles and sprouts, or mix it into a salad like I did. In the mix were:

  • Mixed greens
  • Shredded carrots
  • Mushrooms
  • Firm tofu

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I was really impressed with how quick and easy the sauce was to make. I will definitely be whipping it up again. You can make a big batch of this and refrigerate the extra sauce in a sealed container for up to a week. And if it’s good enough to serve in the Hamptons, it’s good enough to serve wherever you are.

Maple-Soy Marinated Chicken Breasts

February 6th 018

There’s a reason that “tastes like chicken” isn’t usually a compliment: chicken without sauce or seasoning isn’t exciting. I don’t like to spend too much time working on meals(or rather, I don’t have too much time to spend working on meals), so this marinade is perfect for me. It’s 3-ingredients, takes no time to put together, and with a little patience makes the food taste incredible. The smell and flavor reminded me of a teriyaki sauce but with a New England twist. And no one will call your chicken bland ever again.

Maple-Soy Marinated Chicken Breasts

Ingredients:

  • 1/4 cup soy sauce
  • 1/3 cup maple syrup
  • 1/2 juiced lemon(about 2 tablespoons of juice)
  • 1lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts

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Start by collecting all the marinade ingredients into a thin deep container or a Ziploc bag.

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Add in the chicken and let it marinade for at least 3 hours or up to 48 hours(I let mine sit for 24 hours).

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Drain the excess marinade from the chicken before cooking.

To roast, preheat an oven to 350 degrees and bake for 60 minutes. Then remove the chicken from the oven and let it sit at room temperature for 10 minutes to rest.

To grill, coat the grill pan with some cooking oil. Cook the breasts for about 6-8 minutes on both sides until the center has cooked through.

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I recommend serving this with something like rice or spinach to absorb the juice for the chicken because it adds some unreal flavor. I know I’ll be making this again and again because I always have maple syrup and soy sauce on hand. You could also use this marinade for anything from pork to seitan to tofu.

Lunchtime Stir-Fry

January 30th 078

Lunchtime is a funny time. I usually just want hot food fast, that still tastes good but won’t take too long to cook(because that might interfere with watching Days of Our Lives). I usually opt for leftovers, quick-cooking quinoa, or—a big favorite of mine—a stir-fry. Start to finish, a stir-fry only takes 12-15 minutes to cook, and it usually has a lot of flavor. I make this with frozen veggies which makes the preparation even faster without changing the flavor.

Lunchtime Stir-Fry

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 block extra-firm tofu, cubed
  • 1 tablespoon sesame oil
  • 2-3 garlic cloves, diced
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 1/2 cup steamed broccoli
  • 1-2 handfuls spinach
  • a pinch of salt

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Heat the oil in a pan with the garlic. Let it sauté for a few minutes over low-medium heat to flavor the oil.

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Once the garlic starts turning slightly browned, add in the tofu, soy sauce, and salt. Keep stirring the pan as the ingredients cook and the tofu browns.

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Once the tofu has browned on all sides, add in the broccoli and spinach and continue to cook until they have absorbed the liquid.

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All the flavor and none of the fuss. To steal the words from Ina Garten(and actually mean them), “How easy is that?” My favorite part is the broccoli after it has sucked up all the salty sauce and is tender and juicy when you bite in.

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Sweet And Sour Sauce

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One of my favorite cuisine’s to cook now is Asian. Maybe it’s because there’s something so good about take-out food that you make yourself; maybe it’s because it’s practically impossible to eat out at an Chinese restaurant and avoid gluten; or maybe it’s because I’m Italian/French/Polish and have no place cooking with these flavors and I like being a rebel. Whatever it is, I think fake-out take-out dishes are the bee’s knees right now, and this sauce is a great condiment to pour on anything to give it that flavor. I’ve used it on tofu, broccoli, chicken—you name it—and it hasn’t disappointed.

Sweet And Sour Sauce

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup rice vinegar
  • 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
  • 1 tablespoon orange or lemon juice

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Combine all the ingredients in a sauce pan and bring it to a slight boil. Continue boiling it until it has reduced half of its volume and the sauce has thickened.

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You’ll know it’s done when it starts to coat the bottom of the pan like this as you tilt it.

Be careful not to over boil and turn this into a candy. In that case, remove it from the heat and stir in some hot water until it reaches the right consistency.

Store this in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

This doesn’t make that much sauce, so you might want to double the recipe if you’re going to use it a lot. On the other hand, it packs a lot of flavor so you only need about 1/2 a tablespoon for each serving. It’s sweet; it’s sour; it’s delicious. And there’s no scary ingredients, too, when you make it yourself.

Gluten-Free Dumplings With Dipping Sauce

December 31st 067

It’s rare that I’ll put more than 30 minutes of actual laboring into cooking a meal. But some things are worth the effort. As a kid, my favorite food to order from a Chinese restaurant was always their dumplings; I love the soft, doughy exterior with the savory filling dipped in a sweet sauce. I never even thought to make these gluten-free until I saw them on another blog and wanted to give them a shot. Unfortunately, that recipe didn’t work out for me at all. A few kitchen sidesteps and 2 hours later I had 30 cooked dumplings and 1 burnt pan(but that’s a story for another day).

I’m not going to pretend these are a nice simple recipe for a weeknight; they aren’t. But what they are is incredibly impressive to make and very flavorful. Make a batch over the weekend and you can enjoy them through the week.

Gluten-Free Chinese Dumplings

Ingredients(Makes 30-36 dumplings):

  • 4 1/2 cups gluten-free all-purpose flour(such as Bob’s Red Mill)
  • 3/4 cup cold water
  • 4 eggs, divided
  • 1lb ground pork or chicken
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 3 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 2 Tablespoons green onions, chopped
  • 1 Tablespoon brown sugar
  • 3 Tablespoons gluten-free soy sauce
  • 2 Tablespoons sesame oil

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To make the dough, mix together the flour, water, and 3 eggs. Work the mixture until it forms a tough dough and roll it into a ball.

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To make the filling, mix together 1 egg, the meat, ginger, onion, garlic, brown sugar, soy sauce, and sesame oil. Knead the mixture together until the ingredients are emulsified.

Roll the dough into balls and pound them into disks about 1/4-inch thick and 2 1/2 inches wide. Be sure not to pound them too thin or else they’ll tear.

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Scoop a tablespoon of filling onto each disk biased onto one side.

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With dry fingers, lift up the other side and bring it over to make a pouch. Pinch down to seal the edges. If any part shows sign of tearing, take a little extra dough and make it into a patch, pressing down lightly on the thinning area.

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To steam these, boil a pot of water with a fitted steamer on top. Add as many dumplings will fit without layering them on top of one another. Steam for 10-15 minutes until the outside starts turning a deep yellow and the filling is cooked through.

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To pan-fry these, heat a large skillet with a few tablespoons of oil in the pan. Once hot, add the dumplings and cook 5-7 minutes on each side until the breading is crunchy and cooked.

Gluten-Free Dipping Sauce

Ingredients:

  • 6 tablespoons gluten-free soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons sesame oil(preferably toasted)
  • 1 tablespoon chopped green onion

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To make the dipping sauce, mix the sesame oil and soy sauce well. Add the chopped onion on top as garnish right before serving. Be sure to mix the sauce again any time you serve it as the oil will separate.

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These were a pain to make. But it all became worth it with the first bite of doughy, savory goodness. I think I preferred the pan-fried ones both on flavor and ease of cooking. The sauce is a perfect balance of brininess and depth to match the filling. These are undeniably not take-out food.

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Hot Honey Asian Chicken Marinade

December 27th 025

One of my parents’ favorite things to eat for dinner is chicken. It’s a nice, lean protein(because you know everyone’s always on a diet until the weekend) and it takes on flavors wonderfully. We like to keep things simple here, so a marinade is perfect; you just throw the chicken and sauce together in a bag in the morning and it’s ready to bake that night—no fuss!

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This has a fun, savory flavor that’s not too abrasive but definitely not boring. It pairs perfectly with seasoned rice or steamed vegetables.

Hot Honey Asian Chicken Marinade

Ingredients:

  • 1lb skinned and deboned chicken
  • 3 tablespoons sesame oil
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
  • 3 tablespoons water
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

In a large Ziploc bag, combine the sesame oil, soy sauce, honey, vinegar, water, salt, chili powder, and black pepper. Add in the chicken and shake it so that the liquid mixture covers everything. Put the chicken and marinade in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours to rest.

Preheat an oven to 350 degrees. Bake the chicken for 45 minutes in the sauce until it has cooked through.

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I love it when a recipe has extra sauce so that you can pour it all over your sides and make it feel like a complete dish. This makes plenty of extra, so pour it on thick and dig in.

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