A little salad with a sort of miso/ginger dressing is a typical Japanese restaurant amuse bouche. I liked it so much that, a few years ago, I decided to come up with my own version.
I believe the typical recipe involves ginger, miso, and honey. But at the time I knew someone who was “no sugar” (because honey is “sugar” and fruit is not) so I devised this version.
Ingredients: (all approximate)
- 1/2 cup brown miso
- 1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
- 2″ x 1″ chunk of ginger
- 2-4 cloves of garlic
- 1/4 cup sesame oil
- 1/2 cup vodka
- 2 or 3 carrots (peeled)
- 2 or 3 cups raspberries
That’s pretty much it. It all goes in the blender.
A trick I use is small bottles full of vodka in which I store ginger or garlic. That way I can always have it accessible without having to peel it, and I also get yummy garlic-infused vodka (goes great in butter to put on popcorn).
Will it blend?
The complete set-up, including garlic and carrots and stuff.
I put vodka in – lots of vodka – to keep it from going bad. It also makes it taste yummy. Win/win!
(insert blender sound effects)
I store it in the fridge in a wide-mouth bottle. It’s surprisingly good on pasta, too, and if you want an unusual topping for something somewhat like eggs benedict, you can take toast, smoked salmon, and a fried egg, then serve with a dollop of this to top it off.
Looks rather good. I shall have to give it a try.
“garlic-infused vodka (goes great in butter to put on popcorn)”
how does this work?
chigau@#2:
I heat my butter in a microwave with some of the garlic vodka. Give the vodka a chance to steam out. But if you are really a fan of garlic butter for your popcorn, make a little storage jar of olive oil with raw garlic in it. After a couple weeks you can melt some of the olive oil in with the butter and salt and try to convince yourself you’re using less butter…
Marcus
I prefer my popcorn quite plain but that garlic vodka thing sounds worth trying.
I’ll also try olive oil and garlic.
Why would I use less butter? Butter is food of the gods.
chigau@#4: exactly! I prefer the olive oil trick, on balance, because it’s oil!
I have also done garlic butter for popcorn by sauteeing garlic in butter then adding more butter and stirring that into the popcorn. It’s marginally more effort and a lot messier but if you want the food of the gods, yes, buttered butter!
Ps – toasty garlic!
There is a slight risk of botulism or something nasty growing in/on garlic left to soak in oil, which is not a risk with vodka/alcohol. I have been doing it for years with no problem. I use the infused oil for lots of things because sometimes I don’t have fresh garlic or I’m lazy. Toasting garlic will take over your house, while a bit of infused oil adds a subtle flavor.