Soy sauce: more than just a sushi dip

How’s this for sassy? I was asked over to a friend for supper last night and I accepted saying “Yes, as long as I can cook for you?” On being questioned about this unusual and unexpected response, I said “I have a recipe challenge and a blog to keep up!’ This is clearly becoming an obsession, and I am enjoying every minute of it.

So a semi-prepared list of ingredients for tonight’s cookery lesson in a variety of uses for soy sauce was thrown in a bag along with Spray and Cook and the griddle pan (thanks JustMe for the tip on using an overload of Spray and Cook. One would think a non-stick frying pan would not need it. I hauled the pan out of the bottom of the pot drawer and intend using it again more often) and off I went.

Soy sauce is another of those ingredients like chickpeas and couscous that has been a recent addition to my pantry. I had never tasted it (that I know of) until my dear Irish friend got me hooked on sushi last year and I now dip just about anything in soy sauce ‘cos its so delectable. I bought my first bottle of soy sauce last week for a recipe where we used just a little, but tonight we used just about a whole bottle of the delightful molassesy tasting liquor.

The porterhouse steaks were marinated in soy sauce straight up from the bottle. I grilled them on the griddle pan for about three minutes a side and then let them rest and cool before slicing them into slivers to put on top of a fresh green salad which was dressed in a soy sauce dressing. The dressing included garlic, chilies, brown sugar, lemon juice and of course, the soy sauce. I let the chilies lie in the dressing for about 45 minutes before removing them so that there were no nasty surprises in the salad, and that was just enough time to give the dressing an interesting bite that made the lettuce seem so much more attractive than usual. The salad had to be well dressed to be man compatible; I was preparing this dish for a gentleman, and lettuce is not a MAN thing.

I thought it would be rude to ask for a score out of 10 for the meal, but it was enjoyed. I know, because he had seconds. Always a very satisfying feeling for a cook when extra helpings are requested. Or maybe he was just hungry! No, I think he liked it.

Son made the same dish at home for his Boet and himself. Their palate was naïve to the flavour of soy sauce so they were not as keen on the salad dressing as they were on the steaks. Being fitness and health fanatics, busy training now for the Midmar Mile, they were impressed at the leanness of the meal, albeit they were eating steak. No oils or fat were used at all during the preparation. I think that in future, our steaks will always be marinated in soy sauce because it gives oodles of good flavour without any fat at all.