Tag Archives: soy sauce

(Part 1 of 2)

If you’ve read my post about meatless meat sauce, and if you’ve actually made this or something like it, chances are you are in need of redemption. In preparation for our vacation to Maine, I was been busy baking and freezing quick breads and cookies. Searching for something savory that would hold up during the drive up, I turned to jerky. Beef jerky. Beef. It’s what my S.S. deserves after eating meatless meat ~~with a smile~~ without murdering me.

I purchased 4 pounds of top round, and my S.S. requested that I make two versions to keep things interesting. Since this was made with him in mind, I did just that. Here we have version number one, my take on Teriyaki:

2 pounds (908 g) top round (bottom round, flank, or anything used to make London Broil will work just fine)
1/4 cup (75 g) soy sauce
2 T (25 g) fish sauce
1/4 cup (70 g) Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup (60 g) water
1/2 cup (125 g) brown sugar, packed
5 cloves (25 g) garlic, crushed
15 turns (1 g) freshly ground black pepper

1. Slice top round against the grain into 1/4-inch slices.
2. In a large dish, whisk together the rest of the ingredients. Add meat to the marinade and refrigerate for 24 hours, turning halfway.
3. Lay the strips of beef in a dehydrator, being sure not to overlap the meat.
4. Adjust the dehydrator to the highest setting (mine was about 160 degrees F) and let it dehydrate for about 4-6 hours.

Man-O-Meter: 9

Notes: absolutely fabulous flavor, which could use a little more garlic, if preferred (which I do). Otherwise, salt was spot-on, and the balance between sweet and savory was just what you’d expect from a teriyaki sauce. A definite keeper.

miso chicken soup with shiitakes and snow peas

March 4, 2014

the main event, the underwear diet

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This is ridiculously easy, and can be altered in many ways. Don’t feel like making the broth? Use store-bought chicken or vegetable broth instead. Are you vegan? Omit the chicken altogether, or replace with tempeh or tofu, and omit the fish sauce. Feel free to substitute the shiitakes with any other mushroom, or the snow peas with snap peas. Don’t like miso? Well, that ingredient I suggest not to mess with; it adds a sweet-salty, mild “funk” that is hard to achieve with other products. If you follow a gluten-free diet, choose a miso paste made with soy beans and/or rice (not barley; they even make miso out of chickpeas!), and use Tamari soy sauce, which is made without wheat.

2 quarts Thai-inspired chicken broth
1/2 cup white miso
1 1/2 teaspoons fish sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 chicken breasts, shredded (reserved from the Thai-inspired chicken broth)
8 oz shiitake mushrooms, thinly sliced (tops only)
9 oz snow peas, thinly sliced
Sriracha, for garnish (optional, but recommended)

1. Bring Thai-inspired chicken broth to a boil, and then reduce heat to medium-low.
2. Stir in white miso, fish sauce, and soy sauce.
3. Add chicken, shiitake mushrooms and snow peas and cook for about 5 minutes, or until heated through.
4. Garnish with sriracha, if you feel so inclined (and you should).

seared tuna with kale and mushrooms

October 10, 2013

the main event, the underwear diet

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1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
juice of 1 lime, divided
1 inch piece ginger, peeled and grated
1/4 tsp chili pepper powder (or cayenne) or sriracha
2 cloves garlic
1/2 pound fresh tuna steaks
1 small leek, white and light green parts only, thinly sliced
Kosher salt
1 Tbsp olive oil, divided
10 oz cremini mushrooms
2 bunches kale, torn

1. Combine the soy sauce, vinegar, half the lime juice, ginger, and chili pepper powder in a shallow pan.
2. Grate one of the garlic cloves into the pan and whisk together ingredients.
3. Place the tuna steaks into the pan and marinate for 30 minutes to an hour, flipping halfway.
4. Combine the leeks and the remaining lime juice and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes.
5. Preheat oven to 200 degrees F.
6. Remove tuna from marinade and shake off excess, removing any bits of garlic or ginger.
7. Season with salt and pepper on both sides.
8. Heat 2 tsp olive oil in a non-stick pan over high heat until the first whisp of smoke.
9. Add the tuna to the pan and sear for 1 minute on each side. Remove and keep warm in the oven.
10. Heat the remaining 2 tsp olive oil over medium high in a separate pan.
11. Add mushrooms to the pan and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown.
12. Mince the remaining clove of garlic and add to the pan. Sauté for about 30 seconds.
13. Add kale to the pan one handful at a time. Season with salt and pepper and cook until wilted.
14. Plate the greens and top with the seared tuna.
15. Garnish with marinated leeks and a dash of chili pepper powder, if desired.