517564 Fri May 09 12:39:31 -0700 2008 53 31 Home Cooking 0 3672516 Obviously the chefs at Japanese and fusion restaurants have always known this, but I've just started cooking with the soy/butter combination more at home and it is so delicious. I started by adding some soy sauce to melted butter for popcorn, which is amazing. Of course it is good on fish, and last night I made some soba noodles and didn't have anything prepared to put on them. So I quickly sauteed some chopped garlic in butter, added lemon juice, soy sauce and sesame oil -- wonderful and so easy. Today I sprinkled seaweed/sesame sprinkle on the leftovers with shrimp for lunch. I'm sure that's how a local restaurant makes their "tofu steak" taste so good -- they just drench the tofu in soy and butter. Not the healthiest, but it works like a charm when you need a quick hit of rich flavor. Fri May 09 12:39:33 -0700 2008 12460 Chowpatty 1 3672623 soy, butter and lemon is my go-to grilled swordfish marinade. Fri May 09 13:07:51 -0700 2008 3672516 132857 dockhl 2 3672773 Great to saute in with salmon fillets too. Fri May 09 13:49:19 -0700 2008 3672623 84784 food_eater79 1 3672625 Sautee thin slices of beef in soy sauce and butter!! Fri May 09 13:09:13 -0700 2008 3672516 36661 Sam Fujisaka 2 3673037 Or toss those thin beef slices with melted butter and soy sauce and eat them raw, like carpaccio. I've been eating plain rice with soy sauce and butter for as long as I can remember -- it really is a delicious combination. Fri May 09 15:04:28 -0700 2008 3672625 10159 Ruth Lafler 3 3673336 Funny, I'm going to make carpaccio for a French friend next week. I'll prepare a bit with melted butter and soy sauce to give it a try. Fri May 09 16:43:05 -0700 2008 3673037 36661 Sam Fujisaka 1 3672697 I like soy & butter on pasta, with a bit of sesame oil...balck bepper Fri May 09 13:29:59 -0700 2008 3672516 32853 mmalmad 2 3672910 One of my old roommates used to do that -- sans sesame oil and black pepper. Fri May 09 14:27:52 -0700 2008 3672697 10763 Miss Needle 3 3673402 I sometimes use that when I make Japanese-style pasta too (also without the sesame oil), topped with furikake, bonito flakes, and lots of black pepper. When you add mixed mushrooms like shitake and shimeji to the pasta, they soak up the sauce and become awfully succulent and tasty! Fri May 09 17:12:25 -0700 2008 3672910 87028 dreamsicle 4 3674385 That sounds yummy. What kind of pasta do you use? Sat May 10 08:06:13 -0700 2008 3673402 22596 rumgum 5 3674742 Usually I use spaghetti or linguine but prefer the latter ... just personal taste, plus it seems to "sop up" the sauce better. And the dish I make is slightly soupier (i.e. with more sauce) than the usual pasta dish. Hope you'll like it. :) Sat May 10 11:34:25 -0700 2008 3674385 87028 dreamsicle 4 3674999 That does sound quite delicious! I should try it soon, especially since I have all the ingredients at home. Sat May 10 14:12:41 -0700 2008 3673402 10763 Miss Needle 3 3675132 Does anybody know if the soy sauce and butter combo is common in the Ashkenazi Orthodox Jewish circle? Because after bitsubeats post about the combo on rice, I'm thinking of another Orthodox Jewish roomate who liked to eat her rice with butter and soy sauce. Sat May 10 15:05:00 -0700 2008 3672910 10763 Miss Needle 4 3675414 Three of us mentioned that combo (without other stuff): me, kpaumer and bitsubeats. I can't speak for anyone else, but even though I'm half (non-Orthodox) Ashkenazi I don't know anyone in my family who eats rice that way so no, I don't think it's an cultural thing. Sat May 10 17:10:30 -0700 2008 3675132 10159 Ruth Lafler 5 3675458 I guess I wasn't clear. I wasn't really talking about the rice but the butter soy sauce combo because one of my Orthodox Jewish roomates used to eat her pasta with butter and soy sauce and another Orthodox Jewish roomate ate her rice with butter and soy sauce. Sometimes you've got certain cultures adopting items that may seem a bit odd on the surface -- eg. Koreans and Spam. Sat May 10 17:30:04 -0700 2008 3675414 10763 Miss Needle 6 3675491 I think it's probably just a coincidence. But if you want me to speculate wildly ... if they were Orthodox, I assume they kept kosher. Under kosher laws, you can't mix butter with meat, so perhaps the soy sauce is a kosher source of umami. Butter and soy sauce together provide a combination of flavor components similar to bacon: fat, salt, umami and what I guess could be called "cure." Sat May 10 17:51:53 -0700 2008 3675458 10159 Ruth Lafler 7 3675525 Interesting theory. Makes sense. Yeah, it was probably a coincidence. But you've got a great imagination. : ) Sat May 10 18:09:11 -0700 2008 3675491 10763 Miss Needle 6 3676375 i have a lot of Ashkenazi friends and family. I've never seen them do the soy/butter combo. I thought that was a Korean thing. Funny that you mention the Koreans and spam. I've always wondered how they picked up spam and just learned that it was from the American soldiers during the korean war. Sun May 11 07:42:51 -0700 2008 3675458 146256 hotsauce28 4 3694258 Maybe bitsubeats IS your roommate -- posting incognito on this board! Fri May 16 12:38:29 -0700 2008 3675132 24468 chicgail 5 3694391 Ha ha. Well, I know bitsu is half Korean and I don't think my roommates had any Korean blood in them. But that brings an interesting point. I wonder how many posters discovered somebody they already knew on these boards? I know my family once hired a contractor to find out that we were distant relatives. It can be a small world. Fri May 16 13:18:35 -0700 2008 3694258 10763 Miss Needle 6 3694430 susancinsf and janetofreno started posting on the board independently and it took them a while to realize the other was their twin sister! Fri May 16 13:29:03 -0700 2008 3694391 10159 Ruth Lafler 7 3694522 Oh, how funny! My sister posted a few posts on this site independently as well and I ran into a couple of her posts too. But I immediately recognized her pseudonym. Too bad she doesn't post anymore. Fri May 16 13:49:10 -0700 2008 3694430 10763 Miss Needle 1 3672743 According to Rocco DiSpirito's newest Cookbook "Real Life Recipes", you can save slightly burnt food with heated ketchup and butter. http://njmg.typepad.com/foodblog/2007/11/are-you-buying-.html#more Fri May 09 13:41:16 -0700 2008 3672516 123497 fourunder 1 3672923 I make this Pan-seared Salmon with Soy-Butter regularly. Fast and delicious. Fri May 09 14:31:41 -0700 2008 3672516 145820 fmed 1 3672973 I often enjoy a dish of steamed rice with a fried egg on top, cooked in butter, sprinkling some Kikkoman over all. It's what's for breakfast. Fri May 09 14:45:22 -0700 2008 3672516 49726 Anonimo 2 3673015 I love this dish! It was my comfort food as a kid and i still enjoy it today. I put a drop of sesame oil in mine. Fri May 09 14:57:18 -0700 2008 3672973 146256 hotsauce28 1 3673373 On hot white jasmine rice!! Fri May 09 16:57:48 -0700 2008 3672516 135170 kpaumer 1 3674127 Another twist is to add garlic to the mix. Garlic + soy sauce + butter sauteed thinly sliced potatoes make for a quick and hearty side to rice. Sat May 10 04:47:02 -0700 2008 3672516 139343 moki 2 3674166 Another thing to do is do soy with butter and add brown sugar. it is a great marinade for any type of meat or seafood. I use this on Sea Bass then grill it frantastic. Sat May 10 05:36:38 -0700 2008 3674127 103546 Analisas mom 1 3675093 Funny. I am eating a snack of a few yaki mochi, which were dipped in soy sauce, wrapped in seaweed, and slathered in butter. Butter and soy sauce are also good on a pan-fried steak. Sat May 10 14:50:54 -0700 2008 3672516 165968 aburitoro 1 3675104 As a kid I used to LOVE rice with butter and soy sauce. I tried that combination recently and it almost made me puke ): Im sure it tastes a hell of a lot better on something like meat, fish, or tofu. Sat May 10 14:54:15 -0700 2008 3672516 24546 bitsubeats 1 3675934 I'm actually not a fan of the soy sauce and butter combo. Dunno why, but it just tastes off for some reason. If I want to perk up a soy sauce concoction I'll generally add some sesame oil. But never butter. Sat May 10 21:53:51 -0700 2008 3672516 11583 ipsedixit 2 3693973 I agree with you. The butter/soy sauce doesn't work for me. Roasted dark sesame oil with some minced garlic and green onion works much better. Fri May 16 11:31:02 -0700 2008 3675934 93805 hannaone 3 3694121 Indeed. That sauce you described works with just about anything, esp. steamed eggplants, tofu, dumplings, and even tempura. Fri May 16 12:05:17 -0700 2008 3693973 11583 ipsedixit 1 3675937 Hmmm - is that what they slather on (flattened) rice cakes before grilling them? Delicious! Sat May 10 21:57:14 -0700 2008 3672516 10877 Sarah 1 3691524 After reading this thread I sauteed some fiddleheads and baked tofu in soy & butter with some garlic and served it all over jasmine rice - amazing! Glad I have an adventurous husband who doesn't mind tofu 'n' ferns for dinner. ;) Great suggestion! Thu May 15 15:24:30 -0700 2008 3672516 16429 Raedia 1 3691685 One of my old roomates used to use a soy-butter basting sauce on her Thanksgiving turkey. It turns it a beautiful brown color and tastes great, probably not great for your sodium levels, but it's a holiday right? Also, gravy made from the drippings has that great color as well, but is on the salty side. Thu May 15 16:26:01 -0700 2008 3672516 173261 winechik 2 3695133 My family does this with our Thanksgiving Turkey plus some sesame oil and stuffs the turkey with sticky rice and heads of garlic. It's delicious. The butter soy sauce rice combo was very common in my college days. Soy sauce with any fat, like turkey drippings or duck fat over rice works well. Fri May 16 17:00:19 -0700 2008 3691685 94323 wanderlust21 1 3691798 As an update, I recently had one of the best dishes I've had in ages at Lamill Coffee in L.A. It was arctic char (very similar to mild salmon) cooked with a crispy skin. The fish was resting on a sauce of tiny brown mushrooms with diced tomatoes in the most amazing sauce. After moaning with pleasure for a while, I checked the menu and realized the sauce was simply described as "soy-butter." I'm going to have to re-create that one, even if I can't find those little mushrooms. Thu May 15 17:01:51 -0700 2008 3672516 12460 Chowpatty 2 3691878 I found your original post pretty interesting. Tomorrow night I am going to be using my outdoor smoker for Salmon steaks and fillet's. I will smoke over apple or cherry wood, and typically I would take a mixture of Dijon and maple syrup to glaze, before smoking. Now I'm thinking of butter and soy! Thnx for your post. Jeff Thu May 15 17:34:19 -0700 2008 3691798 11598 JeffW 1 3692951 I've been doing this for years as well. I add soy, butter, garlic powder and black pepper to a bowl of noodles and shrimp or chicken. The popcorn idea sound yummy! I have also discovered the wonders of Soy + Cream. Te Kei’s Chinese Asian Kitchen in Tulsa serves their potstickers with the soy cream. Here in Orlando, my favorite dish at Wolfgang Puck Cafe is the Macadamia Nut Crusted Breast of Chicken with Papaya marmalade and garlic mashed potatoes with sho yu cream sauce. The soy cream makes the perfect gravy for the potatoes and chicken. Fri May 16 06:36:09 -0700 2008 3672516 170619 voyageurdemonde 1 3693078 I do this too! But with a slight twist. For those who don't or can't eat dairy, or even if you just want to cut down on cholesterol, I'd like to suggest an alternate to the butter. It's what I use, and it's basically the same thing. Now I know it's hard to equate butter, but this is darn close. Earth Balance (made by same people as Smart Balance but without the dairy ingredients and even having an organic version) makes two delicious non-dairy and non-hydrogenated (thus non-trans-fat) margarines. One is called Earth Balance and the other is Soy Garden. These are delicious in their own right and great for things like this recipe. I "discovered" this one night with some brown rice - I wanted the richness of butter but had already put some tamari on my rice. So I went for it! It was fantastic! Sometimes I add a drop of toasted sesame oil and sprinkle some seeds on top, and sometimes I don't. Cheers, Bettina Fri May 16 07:27:24 -0700 2008 3672516 178082 BBettinaB 1 3693132 I pan-sear salmon, then I build a pan-sauce with soy, mirin, sake, and sushi rice vinegar. Then I mount the sauce with a couple of tablespoons of cold butter, toss in some chopped scallion and sauce around the salmon so as not to de-crisp the skin. This is a standard Chez Corgi. Fri May 16 07:44:59 -0700 2008 3672516 10182 corgi 1 3693371 One of my favorite vegetable side dishes is broccoli roasted with red peppers and garlic cloves. I dress the veggies with cubes of cold butter, some liberal splashes of soy sauce, and red pepper flakes, and roast the whole mess in a hot oven, turning everything a few times. Fantastic on its own or served with soft, cheesy polenta and some roasted Italian sausages. Fri May 16 09:02:28 -0700 2008 3672516 27604 Miss Clare 1 3693763 2 Tbls BUTTER melted 1 Tbls SOY 1 Tsp BALSAMIC VINEGAR I use over seasoned baked asparagus... oh YUM!... even leftover & cold is yum. Fri May 16 10:44:13 -0700 2008 3672516 181997 clwseattle 1 3694186 I use melted butter and soy sauce to use as a dip for artichokes. Fri May 16 12:21:23 -0700 2008 3672516 187545 lcritton 1 3695087 Thick slice some vidalias, dot with butter, sprinkle with soy sauce, wrap in a shallow pan of doubled tin foil and throw on the grill for 15 minutes. Open once, stir, reclose and grill for another 20 minutes. Divine. Fri May 16 16:47:06 -0700 2008 3672516 13599 Ellen 1 3695172 soy , butter, and honey is a very popular grilled salmon baste here - yummy. Im partial to aloha shoyu in this application Fri May 16 17:12:27 -0700 2008 3672516 78681 coastie 1 3701284 As a kid my favorite dish was rice with Maggi soy sauce and butter. :) I think I'll try a hollandaise sometime with soy sauce instead of vinegar. That sounds like a combination that makes sense! Mon May 19 10:14:43 -0700 2008 3672516 146339 phan1 1 3702170 We love this recipe from Wolfgang Puck for Honey-marinated Beef Satay with Butter/ Soy Dipping sauce: http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_30832,00.html The sauce is really addictive! Mon May 19 13:14:09 -0700 2008 3672516 12813 Katie Nell 2 3702826 oh my, I can imagine that over a bowl of rice..... I can't imagine you ever have any left over but, on the off chance, does it keep well? Mon May 19 16:11:54 -0700 2008 3702170 132857 dockhl 3 3703633 Well, as you can imagine, the butter solidifies on top of the soy sauce, but I just heat it back up and it comes together just fine. Mon May 19 20:51:02 -0700 2008 3702826 12813 Katie Nell 1 3702774 omg. when i was younger my mom used to give us rice mixed with butter and jang jo rim which is basically a korean side dish (banchan) of beef braised in soy sauce, garlic and ginger. so she'd spoon some of the soy sauce on the rice, cut up some of the meat and heat it all up with a pat of butter. soooo good. i also love rice, a sunny side up egg and soy sauce. cheap and filling. soy sauce and butter is also yummy when added to mashed sweet potatoes. Mon May 19 15:55:12 -0700 2008 3672516 157514 gl827 1 3703750 Friday evening, I pounded chicken breasts thin, then grilled them on the bbq with only salt and pepper/ Earlier that day, I had mixed butter and soy and put it back in the fridge.When the chicken breasts were cooking using a melon baller, we added the round balls of soy butter to the tops.. Gosh it was just about the best chicken breast, so moist! Reminded me of the chicken at the Japanese restaurant using Tappan (think that's the word) grill. Was delicious. Mon May 19 22:04:11 -0700 2008 3672516 50431 chef chicklet