My favourite 'sauce' has to be Lea & Perrins, but coming a close second is Soy; of all makes and types.
The difference between traditionally made Soy, and big scale industrial (Suzi Wan style) Soy, is like chalk and cheese.
I would never be without the standard Kikkoman or Suzi Wan, but nor would I be without an expensive Soy that lifts Oriental foods to a different level.
My armoury of Chinese dishes (or 'ersatz' Chinese dishes) is very limited. In fact I limit myself to just one well-loved sweet-n-sour Chicken, bean sprout, and red pepper dish, served with rice. It's a pleasant dish, but I would never serve it to anyone from the Orient.
Oriental bottled sauces are a minefield; one could very easily end-up with dozens of bottles of strange concoctions; never to be used. I limit myself to Soy (various qualities), sweet chilli sauce, toasted sesame oil, and fish sauce (Nuoc Mâm). With these I make all my sweet-n-sour type sauces that are used for various purposes.
Soy is a little like Balsamic vinegar; there are cheap versions that are fine for everyday use, but there are also extremely expensive ones for special occasions. I could happily buy more varieties of Soy, but I limit myself to the above few; none of which is anything like Mr Yamamoto's production above.
27 comments:
I thought you may have made soy sauce. I think of it as flavoursome and salty liquid, and soy sauce is soy sauce. I may convince household management to investigate superior soy sauce.
I enjoyed the little video. I always have regular and light soy sauce in the cupboard along with oyster and fish sauce. I wouldn’t be without the fish sauce as in my opinion just a small amount makes all the difference.
Briony
X
The expensive ones (and they ARE expensive) are very different to the average cheap black liquid, sold under the name of Soy.
That little dash of fish sauce does wonders. I must re-stock.
A favourite Saturday lunch is cheese and tomato on toast....we are having it today, and it will have a slosh of Lea and Perrins on it!
I had to see what Lea and Perrnis is, I was surprised at how expensive it is.
It's perfect with cheese on toast; the Toms would be an extra treat.
That was an interesting video. I use Light and Dark Soy Sauce from a Chinese emporium. I'm not sure that my taste buds merit trying a really expensive one. Lea and Perrins and Tabasco are two other staples. They are augmented with the occasional random choice off the Waitrose shelves which have sometimes very pleasantly surprised me.
An English breakfast of bacon and eggs is not complete without a generous splash of Lea and Perrins.
I was given a 6-pack of Hot Chilli sauces for Christmas; I think it'll take 10 years to finish them.
Agree about Lee and Perrins - never without it. Soy - use it a lot and always buy a good quality one but dont know how good it is.
Love Lea and Perrins... and use it a lot. I have to admit though that I've never tried it on my toasted cheese and tomato... will definitely have to try that.
My favourite is Yorkshire Relish. Sadly we finished our bottle weeks ago and had to fork out many euros for a tiny Lee and Perrins. Better than nowt as we say in gods country.
I use far more Soy than I do L & P's, basically because it's easily available, unlike the L & P's.
On a good Welsh Rarebit it's wonderful.
I had not heard of Yorkshire Relish (I'm a Southern lad), so I had to look it up. It seems to be in a bottle similar to Lea and Perrins, but of course that says nothing about the flavour.
Not a fan of L&P but I'm a odd duck I guess. After years of fiddling with various Asian recipes I was given a tip to purchase a bottle of Shaoxing Chinese wine. Eureka! A small amount provides that "elusive" flavor found in restaurant quality meals. (Along with using the good quality soy and fish sauce) One bottle is quite affordable and lasts forever.
Paul uses soy sauce when he's cooking but I find it a bit salty. Lee & Perrins is a vital ingredient when I make chilli.
I've looked for it here but no luck. I need to ask my son to bring some when he comes from England.
I mostly use it in conjunction with honey, ketchup, vinegar, and 5 spice powder. It makes a v good marinade.
Lee and Perrins is available here but its one of those things which I have forgotten how to use. Soy sauce and swwet chilli though are essential when I want a different taste to my food. I bought a bottle of sesame oil to add to a 'chinese style' dish but found I didn't really like it.
Ive got a new basic bottle now and that is balsamic vinegar with pommegranite . I love the taste and add it to all sorts of dressings for salads and my homemade chinese.
Lovelt reading all these comments
I'm looking forward to buying some Pomegranate Molasses. I keep hearing people saying how delicious it is, but of course one can't buy such things here.
Cant you find it on line Cro? With the Levantine and North African population in France I would have thought it would be quite easy to find.
Carrefour carries it, for example.
A small order online seems silly. There is a nearby Carrefour, but I never go in that direction. I shall look around.
Here I am now, waiting for your sweet and sour sauce recipe. Do tell?
As I make it from memory, it's different every time, but it usually consists of Soy, Honey, Ketchup, Vinegar, a pinch of 5 spice powder, and a tiny splash of toasted sesame oil. After that I taste and season.
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