Hello and welcome back to The Stone Soup Cook–so glad you’re here!
This week, I’m continuing my exploration of the seventh of my foundational sauces of California Cuisine: soy sauce. And today, I’m featuring Teriyaki sauce.
I have always had a soft spot in my heart for Teriyaki sauce. Mr. Stone Soup and I met in college when we were both living in Texas. On our first date, Mr. Soup took me to a venerable old tavern that my parents ate at when they were in college. One of the tavern’s claims to fame (along with lots and lots of other restaurants in Texas) was that they had the best chicken-fried steak in the state. Now folks, I’m a good Texas girl at heart and I LOVE me some chicken-fried steak. But–on my first date with a guy I really liked and could see a real future with, I wanted to appear a little more erudite than who I was at heart: a good Texas girl with a big appetite, who was ready, willing and able to dive into and devour a whole chicken-fried steak on my own. But I also didn’t want to order “just a side salad with a spritz of lemon juice, please.” I knew I had to strike a balance between cave woman and forest sprite. I settled on Teriyaki chicken and to my great surprise, it was very good and it satisfied my appetite without my making a gross scene of debauchery over a piece of fried meat.
I probably shouldn’t have worried. Mr. Soup ordered and tucked right into a chicken-fried steak and two years later, we were walking down the aisle. He did mention, however, that he was glad that I had a healthy appetite and, that had I ordered that side salad, he might not have asked me out again. So–yay for Teriyaki chicken!
And yay for this recipe, which comes to me from the files of a good friend of mine, Amy, whose mother-in-law, Virginia handed it down to her. It’s simple and delicious–I usually make a double or triple batch and keep it in the fridge for a few days because this sauce is wonderful with seared salmon, chicken, beef, and Asian-style noodles–cold or hot.
Tune in tomorrow when I’ll highlight another recipe that features soy sauce.
Until then,
Peace, love and good food,
Keri
