Ginger Soy Sauce

I have always had a fairly refined palette. Even as a child. I gravitated towards strong flavours. I loved blue cheese, garlic and onions; no milk chocolate for me, but, leave the unsweetened bakers chocolate within arms reach, and, I would power through the whole thing.

If you are not one for strong flavoured foods, the secret is not to over do it. For as long as I could remember, I had always wanted to try Vegemite and one time years ago found Marmite at the supermarket. While not exactly Vegemite, it is pretty close and so I decided to splurge.

Long story short, I used way too much on my slice of toast and did not really care for it. I was about to toss it in the bin, but then a friend who grew up eating Marmite showed me how to eat it - the proper way. You toast your bread and then spread the room temperature Marmite very thinly on the toast. It was exactly how my grandmother used to make blue cheese on toast. I had been keeping the Marmite jar in the fridge and it was very hard. I almost couldn't peirce the surface.

I never had a sweet tooth and even now if I have a craving it is for salty or spicy rather than sweet. So when I want to cook something I tend to gravitate towards strong flavours such as garlic and ginger. Which leads to my next recipe.

Last night, I did not feel like cooking anything. I found some leftover fried Tofu in the fridge. I like tofu but, on its own, tofu is nothing spectacular. My favourite television character Eleanor Shelstrop described Tofu as a "boring white sponge." And, she is not wrong. Tofu is a good base for any recipe, even desserts if you are into that. Its lack of taste make sit ideal protein as it can literally be used for anything

Luckily, I have a recipe that goes well with Tofu - anything really. I have made this in the past to dip veggies into. It is a bit on the liquid side but, if you add honey, it thickens up and the sweet from the honey pairs well with soy sauce.

Ingredients

1/4 cup Soy Sauce - In the past when I first went gluten free, there were no gluten free Soy Sauces available on the market. I did eventually track down some Tamari, which is a good substitute for Soy Sauce although it can be on the salty side. But nowadays, there are more options that taste just like regular Soy sauce. And, some people swear by coconut aminos but I am not a huge fan of coconut. I am not sure if it is an allergy or the taste or a combination of both but if I can taste the coconut at all, I wont be able to eat the final product.

3 Tablespoons Rice Vinegar - I only had regular white vinegar on hand. Use whatever you have but the vinegar can change the flavour profile drastically.

1 Tablespoon Ginger, minced - Luckily, ginger comes prechopped nowadays or you could use a cheese grater. I had prechopped on hand because I use a lot of ginger and don't trust myself around a cheese grater.

2 teaspoons Sugar - If adding Honey for thickness, you can omit the sugar and add Honey to taste instead.

1/4 teaspoon sesame seeds -

Optional: Honey to taste - When adding Honey, I add 1T at a time until the texture comes together. Depending on how sweet and sticky you want the sauce.

Directions

In a small bowl, mix all the ingredients together.

This recipe makes about 1 cup of sauce. If you need less you can easily halve the recipe. It can also be doubled or tripled.