What's the use of onions in teriyaki sauce?

Question

I make my own Teriyaki sauce. Soy sauce, sugar, lemon juice, olive oil and onion. Normally, after marinating, I dry the piece I'm going to sauté and remove the onion.

Does the onion add flavour to the sauce? Does the onion have an effect on the meat that's marinating?

Or can I leave out the onion?

Asked by BaffledCook

Answer

Soy sauce, sake or mirin and sugar are the usual ingredients in a teriyaki sauce. The rice wines in particular are vital for an authentic teriyaki flavour.

So the question is somewhat moot: onions aren't usually found in teriyaki sauce anyway. The onions naturally add flavour to your marinade: if you like it, leave them in, if you don't, take them out. The onions won't have any major chemical effect on the marination process.

Personally I would ditch the olive oil, replace it with toasted sesame oil and add garlic and ginger for a more rounded and authentically flavoured East Asian marinade.

Answered by ElendilTheTall

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What is Vegetable Meat?

Question

I have come across this food, but I am not sure what it is called. This is a totally vegetarian food but looks like non vegetarian. It is made up of soya(soya beans). Does any one knows whats its real name and whether such food exists or not? Also, how organic/non artificial free from chemical is it? How Hygienic is it? What are the famous restaurants in the world for it? I have heard some Chinese restaurants which offers vegetarian Chinese food, is that the same?

Asked by softy

Answer

I have never heard of Tofu being called "vegetable meat". There are some fake meat types based on different types of soya products (or also other plant proteins), like "fake duck". But the only product I have seen bearing the generic label "vegetable meat" is textured vegetable protein. It is made from soya beans whose fat has been extracted to be used for oil production.

As for "non artificial", I have no idea what your personal definition of "artificial" is. It doesn't grow on trees, but then neither does butter, and I have never heard people condemn butter as "artificial". It is a processed product, and it is not a traditional process, but I can't tell you if it is more or less processed than traditional heavily processed foods such as sugar. Also, the amount of chemicals involved is probably dependent on the manufacturer. I guess you have to trust the regulatory organs of your country to not allow the production of food containing something harmful. Organic? This depends on the manufacturer too. If he adhers to organic production guidelines, then it is organic. And hygienic? This is even harder to answer, it depends on not only the manufacturer's decisions about the process, but also on the day-to-day process quality measures his employees take.

There is no reason to say that "vegetarian meat" is the same as vegetarian Chinese food. A cup of rice served in a Chinese restaurant is vegetarian and Chinese, but does not include any kind of meat substitute. If I cook a French recipe and use textured soy protein as meat replacement, this makes it vegetarian, but not Chinese. There can be some overlap between the two, but I doubt that it is big. China has had social conditions leading to vegetarian lifestyles (poverty, religious restrictions) for long before production of such protein began.

I doubt that any restaurants in the world are famous for it, mainly because it is a poor meat analogue. Yes, it offers a high amount of protein. But it does not taste really like meat. World-famous restaurants are world-famous because they offer high-quality food, and no food using inferior substitutions is high-quality. Yes, there are good vegetarian restaurants, but they don't make poor imitations of meat dishes using fake meats, they offer vegetarian dishes made from good ingredients. Some of them can feature some of the more popular soy products like tofu, but they are probably not famous for their tofu, because the tofu is not the main star of all dishes.

This all assumes that what you refer to is actually the textured vegetable protein I linked, but that is far from clear from your question. Other possibilities exist, because people have long tried to find a suitable meat substitute for vegetarians and for people who can't afford real meat. Most are soy-based, like the mentioned tofu and tempeh, but there are also wheat-based ones like seitan, and I think that there was some kind of beans product used sometimes instead of meat. Without you giving us more information, we can't conclude for sure which one you mean. But the answers to the other questions is about the same, with the exception that some processing methods are older than others and so can be considered more traditional (in case this plays a role for your understanding of "artificial").

Answered by rumtscho

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How do you coat almonds in wasabi and keep it spicy and crunchy? (my wasabi paradox)

Question

I've been trying to make wasabi and soy sauce almonds, like the ones you find at the store (Blue Diamond) but the only recipe I've found (food.com) is very underwhelming. Despite using varying increasing amounts of wasabi, the spicy factor is non-existant.

I suspect the heat from baking causes wasabi flavor to lose it's intensity, so it must be added at the end. But, I haven't been able to find anything to coat the almonds to the outer shell and maintain the roasted/crunchy almond exterior.

Since wasabi powder is "matured" [and activated] with water and a short (covered) resting period, refining it into more powdery makes it stick better but still not spicy.

How do I get my wasabi almonds to come out spicy?

Note: I have also tried horseradish on almonds (which is just wasabi without food coloring) and baking it off.

Asked by Lam

Answer

Wasabi can also be activated by oil. So. Make yourself a nice intense wasabi oil, add equal part by weight of maltodextrin, stir. Voila, a nice sticky powder perfect for adhering to your almonds.

Answered by n/a

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How do you coat almonds in wasabi and keep it spicy and crunchy? (my wasabi paradox)

Question

I've been trying to make wasabi and soy sauce almonds, like the ones you find at the store (Blue Diamond) but the only recipe I've found (food.com) is very underwhelming. Despite using varying increasing amounts of wasabi, the spicy factor is non-existant.

I suspect the heat from baking causes wasabi flavor to lose it's intensity, so it must be added at the end. But, I haven't been able to find anything to coat the almonds to the outer shell and maintain the roasted/crunchy almond exterior.

Since wasabi powder is "matured" [and activated] with water and a short (covered) resting period, refining it into more powdery makes it stick better but still not spicy.

How do I get my wasabi almonds to come out spicy?

Note: I have also tried horseradish on almonds (which is just wasabi without food coloring) and baking it off.

Answer

Wasabi can also be activated by oil. So. Make yourself a nice intense wasabi oil, add equal part by weight of maltodextrin, stir. Voila, a nice sticky powder perfect for adhering to your almonds.

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How should I store 15h cooled and then 2h cooked at 65C white soybeans?

Question

I cooked a litre of soybeans for two hours and cooled them for 15*. I should put them in the refrigerator, but in what solution? My intuition says that an acidic liquid would work. Should I use one teaspoon of citric acid to make them acidic?

_{*Note (Jefromi): the title said "15h cooled and then 2h cooked" soybeans. I tried not to change the meaning, but I suspect that the OP may have actually meant that the soybeans were soaked for 15 hours, then cooked.}

Answer

Generally, cooked beans keep best frozen, at least if you're keeping them for more than a day or two. As for what you'd refrigerate them in to save the to use tomorrow, I'd suggest either their own liquid (if you're going to use it in the recipe) or drained (but tightly covered). Alternatively, if they're going to go into some sauce, you could let them marinate in it.

A teaspoon of citric acid (assuming anhydrous, i.e., dry) is a fair bit, especially for 1L. That will be very sour. ⅛ tsp citric acid into 1L water is notably sour.

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What does simmer slowly mean with white soybeans?

Question

The instructions in the soybeans say that parboil first and then simmer slowly for two hours.

Let's consider this in the scale of my plate. The power-scale of my plate is from 1 to 6. I put it first to 2, then to 3 and then to 4. It started to boil little with 4. Therefore, I consider that simmer slowly means no bubbles in the water i.e. 3.

I assume that parboil means "put the power of the plate to 6 and wait that everything bubbles vigorously".

Answer

I explain what the technical definition between a simmer, boil and roiling boil is here. A slow simmer would be a very thin but continuous stream of bubbles rising from the bottom of the pot.

Parboiling does not mean maximum heat. Parboiling means that you're only boiling until it's part of the way cooked, not completely cooked; so, you're cooking mostly at a full boil, then reducing heat to a simmer to finish them. This ensures they don't overcook.

You'll have to figure what setting a boil and a simmer are on your plate, as it depends on the power and size of your pot. On a stove, I'd expect 2 to be a simmer, and about 3 as a full boil, but it varies from one model to another.

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