Learning basic Japanese Cooking vol. 2

After rice, soy sauce is the most important signature flavor of Japanese cooking. Having lived with my Japanese wife for a decade and a half, I've learned new adventurous ways of using soy sauce in home cooking.

I throw a splash in a tomato sauce when I'm making one from scratch, I use it almost as I would use salt, but soy sauce as an important flavor component. UMAMI! We are only just learning about this element of cooking as western cooks in recent times. Western dishes have it too, Parmesan cheese is packed with it, worcester sauce and ketchup have it too. So you can try to add soy sauce to your western dishes too. Throw it in a vegetable soup to season the broth, use it in a meat marinade on your favorite protein (balance the soy out with some mirin and you will please your family and friends with some marinated roasted chicken legs or a nice pork tenderloin). Add it to a salad dressing, although my favorite in salads is Ponzu, which has Japanese yuzu flavor in addition to the umami soy sauce flavor.

At Tampopo Kitchen, we made a custom blend of soy sauce to go with our sushi, which has mirin, and bonito flakes that get simmered and strained out. This adds to the umami experience of the sushi which is a perfect compliment to the delicate fresh fish. So don't be shy with that bottle of soy sauce that's been sitting in your fridge, it's a whole world of flavor possibilities.

Josh