Put simply, it is whole garlic cloves pickled in a sweet soy sauce.
The package’s list of ingredients reads:
Garlic, Soy Sauce, Salt (?!?), Vinegar, Potassium Sorbate and Artificial Color.
I can only suppose that extra salt is used to chemically digest the garlic and soften it a bit. The vinegar is probably mirin (sweetened Japanese rice wine vinegar), because I am unable to perceive where else the garlic would get this fantastic, near candy-like flavor.
Imagine your ubiquitous roasted garlic that is strewn about by chi-chi restaurants like parsley these days. Now try to conceive of it being, instead, raw whole cloves that have been softened via the pickling process and given a delightfully not-quite-sweet yet piquant twist via the mirin and soy sauce.
I can pop these things down like M&Ms (much to the chagrin of anyone who must be around me thereafter). I’m looking to incorporate them in my Ultimate Chinese Chicken Salad™ recipe. They are a splendid riposte to the usual gari and wasabi that accompanies sushi these days.
So, what new, odd and exciting food stuff have you discovered of late?
Mmm that sounds so good! My current fav food isn’t particularly unusual, but I’m enjoying it tremendously – raspberry walnut vinegarette dressing. I make a large plate of baby leaf spinich and top with cold pasta, strawberry slices, toasted sesame seeds and a little grated cheese. Then drizzle with the dressing. My it’s tasty! I had it for dinner tonight.
Cotswold Cheese.
I can’t remember what it’s called, but I’ve found this lovely Italian honey nougat studded with almonds and pistachios. The only place I’ve been able to find it is Whole Foods, and since I don’t shop there too often, it’s a treat I’ll pick up when I go.
Oh, I was just thinking about this. Dried mango slices.
Not so exotic as all that, but oh baby. Mmmmmmmmmmmmm. Mango-licious. We are eating much much dried mango at present. Which no doubt means that we’re about to discover that they have, like, ten kerjillion calories per slice.
Look pal, KFC is going to beat me to it long before I can get to your door. Quasi, are there no Marie Callender’s near you? Surely (and don’t call me Shirley) you must have some alternative? If you’re actually in Geogia, your mileage may vary drastically.
Check with some of your local bakeries. A few inventive ones often have a good homebrew version of this delightful 'Murican dish. If not (just for you), I’ll post a recipe for making these at home. By now, my friend, you’ve earned it!
Asian sweet red chili pepper sauce. Okay, it’s not a recent discovery precisely, but it is so damn good. It has now gotten to the point where we put it on the dinner table instead of salt. That stuff makes all meat, rice, and vegetables taste soooo good.
I don’t know how weird this is, but I am currently addicted to canned salmon mixed with a large amount of cream cheese, spread over Wicktoria crackers.
Mmmmmmmmmm
Age Ichiban rice crackers, about 1/3 down the page. They sold them at japanesesnacks.com, which seems to be under construction at the moment. Light and sweet and salty and wonderful - cheaper in America, apparently, than the UK…
Straight from the jars. (crackers? we don’t need no stinking crackers!)
With a spoon.
Oh god.
(Actually, it doesn’t have to be Nutella brand. We live near an ethnic grocery store-a real ethnic grocery store, not a regular store with an ethnic “section”-and they sell several different varieties from all over Europe. They taste just as good and are far cheaper.)
“Pepperoni Stix” from 7-11, and Pizzeria Pretzels Combo’s. My god, I need to start eating healthier. Though I did have a pizza with lots of vegetables on it not too long ago
I found a HUGE selection of sugarfree Torani flavor syrups at Cost Plus World Market a week or so ago. (Yes, I know SF just Is Not The Same. Hush, I’m trying to make my latte habit somewhat healthier.) Mmmm, latte heaven! I made a close facsimile of a caramel macchiato with my cappucino machine at home, and it was so good. Even though the damn machine decided to act up at the worst possible time… but that’s a story for another thread.
If by “recent” addiction, you’ll accept since I moved to Japan, about five years ago, then:
Ditto on the garlic
Kasugai brand “usu-pea” peanuts.
Kimchi
Tai-yaki (fish-shaped crepe-like preparation stuffed with lots of yummy sweat bean paste!)
I once had this major ramen addiction. I would eat ramen at least three times a week. I’m not talking about the crappy instant stuff, but the ambrosia served by real ramen joints.
But, the number 1 addictive food in the world is:
Eda-mame
Boiled soy beans. Seriously. It is physically impossible to stop eating them. The worst part is that being actually good for you, there’s no real good reason to stop eating them either.
Wow. You are the first non-Japanese I have ever heard of who has described azuki bean paste as ‘yummy.’
What kind of ramen?
The snack I’ve been eating lots of recently is ‘sakiika’, essentially thin strips of jerkied skid. It goes perfectly with beer, especially if its the spicy kind
Mango. Fruit of the gods. Unfortunately, I can only have them already prepared due to a very bad allergic reaction to the sap. So I have mango nectar, tropical fruit salad with mango, canned mango drool, mango smoothies, etc. I haven’t tried the dried ones mentioned above but will quickly remedy that.
Heathen! All of them! I drool just hearing the word: anko… I even make my own.
Any kind of ramen is fair game, though usually my favourite are the ones that suck the most when they’re bad.
Favourites: Tonkotsu: ramen in a thick pork stock. Miso: ramen in a miso-flavoured soup (not the same as miso soup). Excellent variations include spicy miso ramen and miso butter ramen. Tan Tan Men: Sichuan-style ramen. Other: There’s a chain in Nagoya called Ijinkan Ramen that serves a damn good Age-negi shio ramen (ramen and fried green onions in a clear soup). Their miso ramen rocks too. Also, there’s a place in Osaka called Shinza that does a kickass Chinese cabbage ramen.
I’m sorry, sakiika tastes like cat food. My apologies.
Zenster, you are correct in your assumption that the “vinegar” in shoyu ninniku is mirin. I don’t know where the salt fits in, as the few recipes that I checked didn’t use any. The only three ingredients for home-made shoyu ninniku is garlic, soy sauce and mirin.
Oh, and I forgot about mango. Yes! In any shape or form! Mango lassi, hmmmm…
I followed ianzin’s recipy for maple-syrup & lemonjuice lemonade from this thread on how to fool a sweet tooth.
I’ve been addicted ever since. I’ve hooked a few friends as well!
It’s a treat, cold or warm. No hauling home heavy bottles of soda or beer. And it’s healthier and containing less calories then a beer or soda.
Next to tea, it’s going to be a long time favourite.
