JCC Remove the Bay Leaf: The Cooking Thread

Chyntuck · Apr 2, 2025 at 4:54 AM

@Mistress_Renata It's the first time I hear of ponzu sauce and I had to look it up. Do you really consider that a must-have, or is it something that you could replace with a bit of soy and a squeeze of lemon?

Mistress_Renata · Apr 2, 2025 at 5:03 AM

You could probably do soy and lemon. It's a small bottle, so it doesn't take up much space and since it was my first time trying the recipe I figured I'd better not take chances.

dp4m · Apr 2, 2025 at 5:54 AM

Chyntuck said: ↑

@Mistress_Renata It's the first time I hear of ponzu sauce and I had to look it up. Do you really consider that a must-have, or is it something that you could replace with a bit of soy and a squeeze of lemon?
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It's a little more complicated, since it typically has some other flavors blended in (kombu / bonito + usually a splash of vinegar AND sake/mirin in addition to the soy + citrus). You probably can get away with just soy + citrus, but it'll lack the depth of flavor you'd normally get.

Mistress_Renata · Apr 2, 2025 at 3:08 PM

Fish sauce is like my new secret weapon. Just a few drops adds an incredible dimension to sauces and things, huge umami! It's also good for baiting bug traps.

TCF-1138 · Apr 2, 2025 at 3:17 PM

Having grown up in a partially Thai household, fish sauce (nam pla) is indespensable in the kitchen. But I've been a vegetarian for about 25 years, so I've been using vegetarian versions for a long time, and they do the job quite well.

solojones · Apr 2, 2025 at 3:53 PM

Mistress_Renata said: ↑

Thank you for finding the thread for me, @Chyntuck! I've bookmarked it now. Did a re-read, and wanted to add an answer to @gezvader28 's question:

gezvader28 said: ↑

oh, so oils and vinegars are the key ? so what's the difference with the vinegars, I mean what sort of vinegar produces what sort of sauce?
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I've been getting interested in Japanese and Korean cooking, so to the sauces mentioned before, I'll add soy sauce, ponzu sauce, fish sauce and oyster sauce. Also in addition to vegetable oil and olive oil (my big go-to), I add sesame oil which is used in small quantities for adding flavor rather than for frying. For vinegar, in addition to balsamic and apple cider vinegar, add rice wine vinegar. Also mirin, which is a sort of sweetened rice wine. In the fridge, I have a tub of miso (soybean paste) and a small tube of gokuchang, a sort of red pepper paste used a lot in Korean cooking.

My recent culinary triumph was wiener schnitzel. Which was mostly a triumph because I don't normally deep-fry things (I only have a frying pan, and am always worried about catching the kitchen on fire). But everything was fine, nothing burned and dinner was delicious (I ended up having 2 portions).
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This is all foods I love. Mmm schnitzel.

We just made some soy eggs with some sake and rice vinegar to soak overnight. They're sooooo good

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JCC Remove the Bay Leaf: The Cooking Thread

Chyntuck Force Ghost

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