Acid and Base

NO…I am not talking about the music which blares from my cool minivan as I drive around. My woofer under my front passenger seat making the windows in the vehicle next to mine vibrating obnoxiously. Their heads turning back and forth looking for the lowered Impala with neon lights mounted under it. No, it’s me…not some kid.

I am actually talking about cooking and marinading meats, asian style today.

I like to have stuff ready when I want it. I enjoy cooking on the fly too, but the convenience of grabbing a freezer zip lock bag filled with strips of chicken, pork or beef already in a marinade is easy.
When I am at the grocery store and I see some kind of meat on sale, makes no difference what kind, I’ll buy it. At home I’ll cut it into even strips and/or cubes and think of what I want them to be-ish at a later date.

I have a fully stocked pantry and fridge of all the things I know I want/need to have. Spices galore, from whole seed to already ground. I know you might not have what I have, but you might want it one day.

A few ingredients to have on hand….

Caveat-these are easy things to find these days don’t get scared...

Soy Sauce, 2 kinds regular and sweet.
Sherry, I buy a big cheap bottle with a handle. This is the only time I will tell you to use a wine you won’t drink to cook with.
Rice Wine Vinegar
Fish Sauce
Sesame Oil
Worcestershire Sauce (which is made from tamarind, I like tamarind)
Orange Juice
Ketchup (Ancient Chinese secret ingredient)
Black Bean paste
Dashi
Brown Sugar
Sugar
Cornstarch
Sesame seeds
Limes
Fresh Ginger root
Garlic
Onions
Cilantro
Basil

and if you like it spicy
Sambal Oelek
Sriracha

Our goal here is to create ‘umami’.
…and since I LOVE history and science, you will also get a history lesson…and a bit of a science one as well…

So a long time ago, not a galaxy far away…just a long time ago…There were philosophers who, well, who thought and thought, and came to conclusions. They wrote stories and poetry…and about how many things a human can taste.
Aristotle and Plato came up with four things: Sweet, salty, sour and bitter.

Now for some more time travel…forward into the late 1800’s…

Two guys almost at the same time but oceans apart, one French Chef, Escoffier and another a Japanese chemist, Ikeda created and tasted, respectively, something different than the four flavors people had come to accept.

Glutamate…Glutamic acic…Umami…(MSG)…L-Gluatamine

To all those hyper sensitive types…studies have shown that there are NO ADVERSE side affects to MSG…it’s all in your head.
For those of you that want to argue with me…don’t bother, please read the Dilbert comic strip below. (I’m Dilbert)

Ok, so let talk about L-Glutamine. Glutamate is in pretty much in anything that lives. When things die, organic matter breaks down and the glutamate molecule breaks apart.
Glutamate becomes L-glutamate with the break down of the molecule…and there you have your ‘yummy’, or Umami.
When we cook a stock down, we are breaking apart molecules, creating MORE flavor. Fermentation and aging does the same thing.

When we marinade meat and cook it we are doing the same thing…

All those ingredients I listed above are a ‘bit’ pick and choose-ish. There are a few rules though.

You want the sweet, salty, bitter, sour…we bring out the Umami.

Let’s say we are working with 1lb of already cut up meat.

All the recipes below start with...

1Tbs Ginger. To get it ready, ‘peel’ it with a spoon the grate it. (Please, real ginger, not powdered…unless you are cooking at your friends, forgot yours and all you have is ground.)
1 Large Garlic clove, crushed and chopped. You can add more if you want...


1/4 C Soy Sauce, either kind
1/4 C Sherry
1Tbs ketchup
A splash of Oj
A Dash of Worcestershire Sauce
1 tsp Cornstarch
1tsp sugar


if you want something a little different

Add 1Tbs Black bean paste as well
Spicy…add 1Tbs Sriracha or Sabal Oelek

or

if you want something more Thai-ish

Same amounts of ginger and garlic
1/4 C Soy Sauce
1/4 Lime Juice
1Tbs Fish Sauce
1Tbs Brown sugar
1 tsp Cornstarch
2Tbs Chopped Cilantro (even if it’s going in the freezer, you will also add more later)

When you are ready to stir fry it add 1Tbs of chopped Basil and another of Cilantro.

or

if you want something more Korean

Same ginger amounts, a bit more garlic…
1/4 C Soy Sauce
1/4 Cup Sherry
1 Tbs Brwn Sugar
1 tsp cornstarch
A dash of Worcestershire Sauce
1tsp Sesame Oil
1tsp Sesame seeds

Or, more Japanese

The ginger and garlic and soy
1/4 Rice Wine Vinegar
1Tbs Worcestershire Sauce
1tsp Dashi


If you are opposed to using alcohol for any reason, you can use Rice Wine vinegar. (It’s the acid you need to break down the protein…all the acids listed above just have different flavors)

I think you get the gist and ease of all this.

When it’s time to cook, thaw in fridge for the day. Slice up what ever veggies you have on hand…I also like to add more ginger and garlic at this point, 1/2 an onion…
Some ideas
carrots, celery, butternut squash, pumpkin, eggplant, sweet potato, bamboo shoots (from a can is fine), zucchini …it doesn’t matter…pick and choose!

To a hot pan add 1Tbs veg oil and saute, onion till limp then add ginger and lastly garlic (Be careful garlic burns fast!) dump entire pack of thawed meat and juice to pan. Saute for about 4 min. (this is sketchy, I just eye it.) Move the meat to the sides of pan and add veggies…cook till veggies are tender crisp… Add 1Tbs of Cornstarch mixed with water to make a paste. Add and stir.

Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy

Serve with rice…or noodles