Hello and welcome back to The Stone Soup Cook–I’m really glad you’re here!
Fall is probably my favorite time of the year. The weather cools down, the days get shorter and my inner squirrel leans into its desire to preserve the bounty of the late summer. This is the time of year when I make big batches of pesto that I’ll put into the freezer for use in the cold winter months. This is also the time of year when I roast several quarts of Roma tomatoes and freeze them for use when my heart yearns for the simple pleasures of pasta with spicy tomato sauce. Tune in next week when I’ll be posting more on the recipes that delight my inner squirrel this time of year!
For now, I’m continuing with my exploration of soy sauce. Today, I’m sharing my recipe for dipping sauce for the Asian-style steak rolls, or Negimaki, that I shared in my last post. This delicious dipping sauce combines all the flavors that our tongues can distinguish: salty, sweet, sour, spicy heat and umami, but doesn’t allow one flavor to dominate the palate. Ordinarily, I’m not a fan of foods that combine sweet with savory–I’m always the person who requests her pancakes and bacon to be served to her on different plates–I just don’t like my bacon with syrup!
But somehow, in Asian food, the combination of all the flavors just works. Asian Cuisine is incredibly elegant and as I’ve mentioned, has always intimidated me, but I am enjoying learning about this ancient cuisine. One of the basic tenants of Asian Cuisine is balancing flavors so as not to let one flavor overwhelm any other one. So, for example, sweet and salt will counter-balance the heat of, say, a curry. Think of a Thai curry, for example: the curry will pack a punch of heat using bird’s eye chilis that are quite spicy, but will be balanced out with the sweetness of the coconut milk and other slightly sweet ingredients like carrots, along with salty and savory components, so that the flavors marry together, but don’t overwhelm the palate with one dominant flavor.
I will take a deeper dive into this concept in future posts. For now, I’m introducing this idea in this lovely little dipping sauce that includes salty, sweet, spicy, sour and umami:
It’s got soy sauce for the salty and umami components, a little rice vinegar, some brown sugar to balance out the salt of the soy sauce and the heat of some slices of jalapeños. The beauty of this sauce is that it packs a punch of flavor, but will enhance the flavors of the steak rolls rather than overwhelm them. It’s also great with shellfish like seared or grilled scallops and shrimp.
Tune in tomorrow when I’ll be sharing one of the most ubiquitous Asian sauces: Teriyaki.
Until then,
Peace, love and good food,
Keri
