Monday 12 October 2009

Vinegar

Just typing the title had me singing

Fiiiish 'n chips and vinegar,
vinegar, vinegar,
fiiiish 'n chips and vinegar,
pepper, pepper, SALT!

Don't throw your junk in my backyard,
my backyard, my backyard,
my backyard's FULL!




Although, of course since I'm loosing my voice from a cold, you'll have to imagine me singing in a nice gravelly baritone!

Anyways... where was I?



Right... VINEGAR!



This month's Washoku Wariors ingredient. Although I have a bottle of rice vinegar in my cupboard I haven't used it much and enjoyed trying out a few different recipes. The only drawback was that after three vinegar recipes in one evening my kitchen smelled like vinegar for a few days!

The recipes I tried were the Tangy Seared Chicken Wings and the Classic Sweet-and-Sour Sauce, with which I made Sweet and Sour Lotus Root.


The Tangy Seared Chicken was yummy, although I think I'd like to try adding carrots or other veggies next time, to see if this could work as a sort of stewed meat and vegetable dish.


I've never been a fan of sweet and sour pickles (I'm a garlic dill girl through and through), but I am very happy with the Sweet and Sour Lotus Root. The pieces of lotus root are crunchy and tangy and a side to just about any dish. I'm looking forward to trying another one of the sweet and sour pickles once I've eaten my lotus root!

12 comments:

  1. One (bottleofpop)
    Two (bottlesofpop)
    Three (bottlesofpop)
    Four (bottlesofpop)
    Five (bottlesofpop)
    Six bottlesofpop
    Seven bottles of pop!

    That was always my favourite part =)

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  2. I love lotus root! And that chicken looks so delicious! Wish I could come over to enjoy your creations. I've got some apple cider vinegar I don't know what to do with, so any suggestions would be greatly appreciated... Keep cooking! (And I have to remember to read your blog AFTER I've eaten, and not before dinner...)
    love and hugs, Cath

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  3. Coletters - tee hee! I had forgotten about that verse! (myargh - now I have the song stuck in my head again! arrrrgh!)

    Cath - the vinegar in the recipe is rice vinegar, so I don't think that your apple cider vinegar would work. As for uses - I know vinegar based drinks are popular in Japan for health reasons - mixing vinegar with teas and or juices to make refreshing drinks. Or a yummy vinegrette for a salad? Apparently it can also be used to cure a range of scalp and skin issues including toe fungus... lovely... Well, if that didn't cure your pre-meal hunger I don't know what would! ;)

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  4. Thanks, Sarah. Your response just stopped me from eating the rest of my afternoon snack... What to do with half an oatmeal cookie?
    love, C

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  5. I'm a big fan of lotus root too. I've never had sweet & sour lotus root before but it sounds good.

    jessica

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  6. Cath - Does the oatmeal cookie have chocolate chips or peanut butter chips in it? If so the only thing to do is to bake another batch and send them to Japan! If they have raisins though, then you have to throw it out immediately! ;)

    Jessica - Thanks for your comment! The longer the lotus root sits the more pronounced the sweet and sour flavour is getting, and I'm not sure I'm crazy about it, to be honest. Luckily there is somebody else around here who has been scarfing it down like candy!

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  7. hey sarah--
    thanks for the comment on my post.
    Do you have the recipe for the oil-free plum dressing? My boyfriend really likes the flavor of this plum dressing, but he doesn't the fact that it has oil in it (1 tablespoon of oil for a cup of dressing??? geez)

    Thanks!

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  8. I just sent you a package, but there are no oatmeal cookies in it - though there are some scary treats... What, you can't get oatmeal cookies in Japan? Or are you craving home-baked cookies in general?
    love and hugs, C

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  9. Nicole - Recipe for the dressing? Well... since I can't buy it at my local grocery store I have to take the train two stops or walk 20 minutes to a different grocery store, but then I just pick it up off the shelf! Sorry, it's not homemade! But the contents are listed as vinegar, pickled plum flesh (bainiku), soy sauce, plum vinegar, konbu dashi, salt, katsuo, shiso and a few un-pronouncables. Can you get all those ingredients? Could you try your own variation (without the pesky un-pronouncables)?

    Cath - I've never had a storebought oatmeal cookie that was any good, something about them means they just have to be homemade for me. Perhaps its just my aversion to raisins. I love home-made oatmeal cookies with peanut butter chips... mmmmm! Sigh, I really miss having an oven!!

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  10. I forgot you are ovenless! Poor thing... C

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  11. Cool blog.I love cooking with vinegar so came in at a good post;)And lotus root...can't get enough of it!

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  12. Thanks Maggietoki! I'm a big fan of lotus root too. I love the fried "stuffed" lotus root that the local grocery store sometimes has. Do you have any favourite recipes you could share?

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