Adventures in Soy Sauce Soured by Graves and Bedroom Eyes
A lot of my dishes the past few weeks have included soy sauce in the recipe. There was the onigiri, the scallion and potato pancakes from Appetite for Reduction, a big bowl of sesame broccoli and the sweet and sour tofu that is pictured to the right. The reason for these adventures in soy sauce is simple…I got my hands on some Microbrewed Bluegrass Soy Sauce from Bourbon Barrel Foods. I’ve been making excuses to put it in my mouth.
Bluegrass Soy Sauce is the only microbrewed soy sauce made in the US. It is created in small batches using non-GMO soybeans, red winter wheat and limestone filtered Kentucky spring water. It is created in bourbon barrels which gives the final product a taste that is slightly smoky with a hint of oak. It is very salty (for someone who spends most of their time eating low sodium soy sauce) but with just a little adjustment, even the low sodium fans can find a taste they enjoy. Each five ounce bottle comes with a label detailing the batch and bottle number of the soy sauce you hold in your hands. You can see why it would be a hipster cook’s wet dream.
Sweet and Sour Tofu
(printable version)
-1 block of firm tofu, cubed
-1 cup cauliflower, sliced
-1 cup broccoli, sliced
-1 cup of baby carrots, diced
-1 onion, diced
-5 cloves of garlic, pressed
-3 Tbsp tomato sauce
-2 Tbsp soy sauce
-1 cup vegetable stock
-2 tsp corn starch, dissolved in water
-1 Tbsp sesame oil
-Brown Rice
1. Heat sesame oil in a large wok. Add the tofu and cook until desired consistency. Add the garlic and saute for one minute.
2. Once garlic is aromatic, dump the other vegetables into the wok and toss them in the oil for about a minute. Add the soy sauce and tomato sauce and stir well. Fry for about a minute.
3. Add the vegetable stock and bring to a boil. At this point thicken the sauce with the corn starch and water mixture. Keep stir frying until the sauce begins to bubble.
4. Remove the wok from the heat and spoon the sweet and sour tofu over plates of brown rice. Eat it (making sure to hit the tip and middle of your tongue on the way down).
Gutters aren’t exactly the place I would expect to find something colorful. But every once in a while I’ll be walking down the street on a rainy day and see a small rainbow rising out of those pits. I try not to think too much into it as I’m sure it is due to some unhealthy pairing of toxic chemicals but in the simplest form of things, it pleases the eye. Graves, a hardcore band from Vancouver, is another rainbow that rises from the street gutters. Their music is loud, the drums punishing and the vocals are throaty screams that make even the roughest vocal cords feel the need to reach for a throat lozenge. They may not bring anything new to the table with their EP, Violence and Murder, but the passion of playing and making music shines through those four heart stopping tracks. The stand out track is “Colors” (hence the rainbow) because of its chameleon like musical time changes.
West Side Fabrication, one of the chief players in the Swedish Indie-Pop Music Scene, is about to celebrate their 25th year as a label. To celebrate the label released their Scandinavian Indie Volume 2: Now & Then. This album features four releases specifically for the album and a number of other radio friendly hits from Sweden. I have already included two on my last playlist (Wade and Heikki). Now you can take a listen to one of the other tracks I really liked, Bedroom Eyes’ “Hand-in-Hand Grenade.” To get the album, go to the label’s website.
