Soy sauce is a salty liquid made from fermented soy beans, roasted wheat, water and salt. Packed with umami, soy sauce is used as a condiment and seasoning in Asian cuisines.
Soy sauce comes in many subtle variations, but is generally broken down into dark and light varieties. Light soy sauce is generally saltier and thinner than dark soy and does not stain food while cooking. Chinese black soy has added molasses that colors dishes as it cooks. The whole soy beans used to make quality soy sauce lend it a dark color, but cheaper brands using soy protein may cheat by adding caramel coloring.
The Japanese use soy sauce as a dipping sauce for sashimi or to season tofu, grilled meat and vegetable dishes. The Chinese use soy sauce mainly for marinades. In Indonesia, it is used mostly as a table condiment (called kecap, which comes in sweet and salty variations).
Be warned: though Japanese tamari (a slightly thicker and complex soy sauce made from more soybeans than most) is generally wheat-free, other commercial brands of soy sauce do contain gluten, so if you are trying to cook gluten-free, check the labels carefully.
How much salt should I add to a pot of boiling water?
How much salt should I add to a pot of boiling water?
The wisdom about how much salt to add to a boiling pot of water is vast and varied.
Cooks will recommend anything from 10 to 50 grams per liter. Traditionally, it is thought that salty water helps green vegetables hold their color and makes pasta water boil more quickly, although both theories have their naysayers.
French culinary guru Joël Robuchon always adds two giant pinches of gros sel to a pot of boiling water for pasta or green beans with his pudgy and knowing fingers. He tells us that salting the water is our only chance to flavor pasta and help the vegetables stay bright. And while both pasta and vegetables will need additional salting after they're cooked, they will need less than if you neglect to salt them during the cooking process.
Most of the heat in a chile pepper -- whether jalapeño, serrano, habanero, or another -- comes from the white ribs and seeds. Removing both reduces the chile's heat and allows more of the pepper's flavor to come through.
First, cut the pepper in half lengthwise. If you want the halves to stay intact for larger slices or a large dice, just trim out the seeds and ribs, cut out the stem, and slice the pepper as thick or thin as you like.
Otherwise, it's easier to get the seeds and ribs out if you cut each half in half again.
To get the seeds and ribs out, hold each quarter by the end. With the knife parallel to the cutting board, slice across the ribs and seeds. When you get to the top of the pepper, turn the knife downward toward the cutting board and chop off the stem with the same motion. (Here, we used a Granton Santoku knife; you may prefer a smaller paring knife.)
Reference: Help! I ate a hot pepper! (Cookthink)
Reference: How to seed a chile pepper (Cookthink)
Reference:: Why are some jalapenos hotter than others? (Cookthink)
what you should know
Perhaps as foreshadowing of the future of take-out everywhere, soy sauce got its start as a leftover. When the Chinese were fermenting soybeans for a flavoring paste in the 2nd century BCE, they realized that the liquids left behind were also pretty tasty.
Buddhist monks took the process to Japan, and by the 1600s it developed into the standard recipe of fermented soybeans and wheat we eat today.
to each its own Different versions of soy sauce exist across Asia. Chinese soy sauces are made light and dark, with the dark containing molasses to give it a sweeter edge. Japanese sho-yu is categorized according to color and ingredients, and ranges from lightly sweet to intensely dark and salty. Other soy sauces are made in Korea, Taiwan, the Philippines, and Indonesia, all with slight differences.
it's all the soy to me Though each sauce is slightly different, you probably don't need to have 15 different bottles of soy sauce in your fridge. If you can accept small variations in flavor, a basic Japanese soy sauce will work in most everything.
yum-ami The dark taste of soy sauce is practically the definition of umami, the savory fifth taste that enhances the other four (sour, salty, sweet, bitter) and is found in everything from meats and mushrooms to tomatoes and parmesan cheese.
wheat weak Tamari, a dark variety of Japanese soy sauce, is packed with rich umami flavor. But unlike other varieties, it has little or no wheat - which makes it a safe staple in a gluten-free diet.
what you need
A flat-bottomed wok is a versatile alternative to the rounded variety. You can use it for braises and other liquid cooking as well as stir-frying.
One of our favorite Japanese cookbooks, Harumi's Japanese Cooking, is a beautifully photographed collection of classic and reinvented Japanese recipes.
Nothing says "this isn't take-out" like a pretty soy sauce pot.
what you do
Soy sauce and eggs may not sounds like a fantastic combination, but the savory saltiness of the soy works so well with green onions for this omelet with shrimp and broccoli.
An Asian adaptation of a classic Italian dish: there is a light and refreshing lilt to the tortellini in soy and lemongrass broth.
A simple soy dressing dresses up this cold black rice noodle salad with mixed vegetables from Coconut & Lime.
It's sweet, hearty, salty and earthy, so a plate of stir-fried beef, leeks and bell peppers with basil over rice satisfies just about any craving.
featured recipe This light dish of green beans with mayo-soy sauce made us think of spring! It's this week's featured recipe for the Root Source Challenge and it's from Alanna of A Veggie Venture!
Ginger's brown outer peel looks tough, but it's not. It's so thin and light that you don't need a knife or vegetable peeler to peel it.
To start, break or cut off the the amount of ginger you need. Slice off any small protruding limbs to make the main piece easier to peel.
Hold the piece of ginger in one hand. With the tip of a spoon, scrape away the ginger's peel.
You'll be surprised by how little effort it takes to remove it. Because spoon tip is dull, it easily takes off the soft peel without wasting much of the aromatic flesh.
Once you've peeled the ginger, you're ready to prep it further.
Reference: How much is a thumb of ginger? (Cookthink)
Reference: How to mince ginger (Cookthink)
