Episode 6 is all about soy sauce. We had lots of fun in making some tasty teriyaki in both beef and tofu versions. Here's a rundown of the show...
Soy sauce comes in many varieties and has both brand specific and regional-taste differentiation in flavor, thickness, and preservatives added. The main concern when buying soy sauce is to find one with a relatively low sodium content (200-500mg/Tbs).
Additionally, soy sauce does contain gluten. To get around this you can use Tamari. Tamari is almost exactly the same flavor as soy sauce but many brands of Tamari are gluten-free.
Here's the recipe for our teriyaki sauce.
1/2 cup soy sauce or tamari
1/2 cup Chinese rice wine or sherry (or other vinegar)
2 crushed garlic cloves
2 Tbs honey
1/2 Tsp Thai chili powder
You want to marinate the beef it in for at least 2-hours (6 is better). For the tofu, do not marinate but instead cook the sauce down to reduce in half and then toss the cooked tofu in it a few minutes before serving. For either bake on a wire rack above a cookie sheet at 425F until done.
Lastly on episode 6 we gave a big shout out to Sol Azteca, a super-authentic Mexican restaurant with reasonable prices. Sol Azteca is located at 914 Beacon Street in Boston, just a few blocks from Kenmore Square and Fenway Park.
Take a listen to the episode.....
Food Becomes Me - S01E06 - Aired February 11th 2013
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In Episode 7 we learned how to get more omega-3 fatty acids into your body. The general consensus was that ground flax seeds and flax seed oil are the best source even if they are a little expensive. Walnuts are also a decent source of omega-3s.
Seafoods like salmon and shrimp have long been touted for their high levels of omega-3, but with this comes high levels of mercury and other pollutants. To compound this problem, it is found that farm-raised seafood does not contain such highly beneficial levels of omega-3s.
In cooking try to heat the flax seed or oil as little as possible. The best methods for this are to use the ground seed in things like cereal and baked goods, and the oil added to finished sauces.
We made a salad dressing of:
1 Tbs flax oil
1 Tbs olive oil
2 Tbs cider vinegar
1/2 tsp ground white pepper
1/2 tsp ground oregano
Whisk together and toss on greens; arugula was recommended. Take a listen to the episode for more info.
Under shopping advice, episode 7 introduced Russo's market in Watertown. Russo's is know for the having an eclectic collection of top-quality produce and fresh goods spanning every ethnicity.
Food Becomes Me - S01E07 - Aired February 18th 2013
