Butter + soy sauce

[OnigiriFB]

Hi,

I was reading Amy's (smallword) blog and I noticed she uses butter and soy sauce as a flavoring in broiled seafood dishes. Is this a common technique in Japan? Amy used it when making scallops. What else could I use this on? I'm really intrigue since so me they seem like two seperate worlds coming together. Most asian cuisines I know of do not use dairy so I wondered if this was something new. Thanks

[Hiroyuki]

I like store-bought, soy-and-butter flavored pop corns!

[prasantrin]

My favourite teppanyaki place uses it with oysters, with a little squeeze of lemon. It's very , very good!

[Naftal]

My favourite teppanyaki place uses it with oysters, with a little squeeze of lemon.  It's very , very good!

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Hello- I am really interested. Would this be similar to a vinaigrette?

[BarbaraY]

Shizuo Tsuji, in his book Japanese Cooking, A Simple Art, has a recipe for Salmon that uses butter, soy sauce, and mirin with green onions.

It's absolutely delicious.

[dockhl]

I marinate fresh swordfish in it before throwing it on the grill.

[prasantrin]

My favourite teppanyaki place uses it with oysters, with a little squeeze of lemon.  It's very , very good!

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Hello- I am really interested. Would this be similar to a vinaigrette?

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Not at all. The chef puts some butter on the grill and adds the oysters. At some point he adds some soy sauce one it (I can't remember if it comes after the oysters have browned a bit, or right at the beginning). Then right before taking them off the grill, he squeezes a bit of lemon juice over them.

Very simple, but very delicious. During oyster season, I always get the oysters because he does them so well.

[SuzySushi]

Not new at all. Back 25+ years ago, a Japanese friend made butter-yaki (teppanyaki with butter and soy sauce) when I was at her home for dinner. As I recall, it was beef.

[helenjp]

Robata-yaki shops used to (probably still do) sell butter-yaki enoki mushrooms, seasoned with soy sauce.

When I mentioned it to my family, they yelled out "Mentaiko spaghetti" to a man. And yes, I guess that spaghetti dressed with salted cod roe also includes butter and soy sauce.

Butter and soy sauce are good with corn on the cob (or popcorn for that matter), but so is sesame oil and soy sauce. Parsnips boiled and then shaken around in butter or sesame oil and soy sauce are very good, but parsnips are not to be found in Japan.

Since I grew up with butter and marmite/vegemite, soy sauce doesn't seem a strange partner for butter at all!

[JasonTrue]

In addition to butter-soy sauce roasted corn and enoki, renkon butter and corn butter are butter-soy sauce combinations. I've also had takenoko prepared with butter and soy sauce (roasted, I think), and sometimes "mushroom foil yaki" is done that way.

I like even isobe-yaki (grilled mochi) with a touch of butter.

[Mark Sommelier]

Hi,

I was reading Amy's (smallword) blog and I noticed she uses butter and soy sauce as a flavoring in broiled seafood dishes. Is this a common technique in Japan? Amy used it when making scallops. What else could I use this on? I'm really intrigue since so me they seem like two seperate worlds coming together. Most asian cuisines I know of do not use dairy so I wondered if this was something new. Thanks

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Soy and butter are my favorite way of flavoring Brussel Sprouts!

[Priscilla]

Our favorite sushi place has always served, depending on availability, butter-soy asparagus, and butter-soy shishito peppers, both just delicious, the latter gets a dusting of undulating dried bonito flakes.

[shinju]

Not new at all. In the 50's when money was tight for many people, as long as there was a bit of butter and soy sauce that went on top of rice then that was a meal. With a bit more money, I used to see some ham slices sauteed in butter and soy sauce to be devoured with rice.

[Ce'nedra]

I don't think it's new. I remember eating Chinese style fried rice and the flavouring agent was soy sauce + butter (probably not very authentic but ehh) -boy, did it taste good!

[Ce'nedra]

Speaking of which (the above), if you watch this video

is that butter and soy sauce the chef was mixing in the beginning? I'm not quite sure...correct me if I'm wrong...

[smallworld]

I was surprised at how much butter is used in Japan since I'd always believed Asians don't do dairy. But it's used quite a bit here, and not just with western style cooking. Butter is a great match with not only soy sauce but ponzu and miso as well.

The soy sauce-butter combination works very nicely with steamed clams: steam them in sake or white wine and add just a tiny bit of soy sauce and butter, along with finely sliced negi, at the very end. There's no better way to eat clams, in my opinion.

As for the miso-butter combination, it's especially nice with potatoes. You'll see steamed potatoes on sale at festivals, served drowned in butter (well, margarine) and topped with a dollop of miso. I do a home version that involves steaming halved potatoes then smearing the cut half with a butter and miso mix and then broiling it until the miso just starts to darken.

And one of my favourite miso soups is made by sauteing onion in plenty of butter, adding water (not dashi) with potatoes and other vegetables (asparagus or kabocha are good, simmering until potatoes are tender and then mixing in miso. The combination of butter, onion and miso is wonderful. Bacon is added on special occasions.

[JasonTrue]

Not sure, and I don't know Chinese well enough to eavesdrop

It could be butter or lard. It does seem a bit yellowish, so it certainly could be.

Speaking of which (the above), if you watch this video

is that butter and soy sauce the chef was mixing in the beginning? I'm not quite sure...correct me if I'm wrong...

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[Ce'nedra]

Not sure, and I don't know Chinese well enough to eavesdrop

It could be butter or lard. It does seem a bit yellowish, so it certainly could be.

I think that's at Teppanyaki, so it's Japanese hehe.

I've certainly had Chinese fried rice with soy-butter though, as I said before, and I will most probably be giving it a trial at home to see how it turns out...will post back

Edit: I think that's in China oops it probably would be in Chinese.

Edited March 19, 2008 by Ce'nedra (log)

[Ce'nedra]

I was surprised at how much butter is used in Japan since I'd always believed Asians don't do dairy. But it's used quite a bit here, and not just with western style cooking. Butter is a great match with not only soy sauce but ponzu and miso as well.

The soy sauce-butter combination works very nicely with steamed clams: steam them in sake or white wine and add just a tiny bit of soy sauce and butter, along with finely sliced negi, at the very end. There's no better way to eat clams, in my opinion.

As for the miso-butter combination, it's especially nice with potatoes. You'll see steamed potatoes on sale at festivals, served drowned in butter (well, margarine) and topped with a dollop of miso. I do a home version that involves steaming halved potatoes then smearing the cut half with a butter and miso mix and then broiling it until the miso just starts to darken.

And one of my favourite miso soups is made by sauteing onion in plenty of butter, adding water (not dashi) with potatoes and other vegetables (asparagus or kabocha are good, simmering until potatoes are tender and then mixing in miso. The combination of butter, onion and miso is wonderful. Bacon is added on special occasions.

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In Vietnamese cuisine, there's a popular beef dish that uses butter, salt and pepper.

Quite a number of Asian cuisines have incorporated butter into their diet for awhile now -and yes, like you said, not just for Western style cooking either.

That's not to say that it's common practice though...

Edited March 19, 2008 by Ce'nedra (log)

[OnigiriFB]

I was surprised at how much butter is used in Japan since I'd always believed Asians don't do dairy. But it's used quite a bit here, and not just with western style cooking. Butter is a great match with not only soy sauce but ponzu and miso as well.

The soy sauce-butter combination works very nicely with steamed clams: steam them in sake or white wine and add just a tiny bit of soy sauce and butter, along with finely sliced negi, at the very end. There's no better way to eat clams, in my opinion.

As for the miso-butter combination, it's especially nice with potatoes. You'll see steamed potatoes on sale at festivals, served drowned in butter (well, margarine) and topped with a dollop of miso. I do a home version that involves steaming halved potatoes then smearing the cut half with a butter and miso mix and then broiling it until the miso just starts to darken.

And one of my favourite miso soups is made by sauteing onion in plenty of butter, adding water (not dashi) with potatoes and other vegetables (asparagus or kabocha are good, simmering until potatoes are tender and then mixing in miso. The combination of butter, onion and miso is wonderful. Bacon is added on special occasions.

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Oooo I have a potato craving what kind of miso do you use? I only have misoshiro (I think that's what its called, the white kind).

I'm beginning to think dairy use is a cultural misconception. Hrm... I can't think of a Thai dish with butter though. Rona? Can you think of one?

[Ce'nedra]

Hmm can't think of a Thai dish with butter either...but that's because don't have an in-depth knowledge of Thai cuisine.

I forgot to mention that there's yet another Vietnamese dish that uses butter -it's shrimp/prawn sauteed with fish sauce, pepper and butter (it might be similar to the beef dish I described above). But I wouldn't have a clue what it tastes like since I've never had it before.

[OnigiriFB]

Hmm can't think of a Thai dish with butter either...but that's because don't have an in-depth knowledge of Thai cuisine.

I forgot to mention that there's yet another Vietnamese dish that uses butter -it's shrimp/prawn sauteed with fish sauce, pepper and butter (it might be similar to the beef dish I described above). But I wouldn't have a clue what it tastes like since I've never had it before.

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FISH SAUCE and BUTTER???!!!??

[Ce'nedra]

Hmm can't think of a Thai dish with butter either...but that's because don't have an in-depth knowledge of Thai cuisine.

I forgot to mention that there's yet another Vietnamese dish that uses butter -it's shrimp/prawn sauteed with fish sauce, pepper and butter (it might be similar to the beef dish I described above). But I wouldn't have a clue what it tastes like since I've never had it before.

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FISH SAUCE and BUTTER???!!!??

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Why YES indeed

Maybe you should give it a try and get back to me (I don't want to be the first)?

[smallworld]

Hmm can't think of a Thai dish with butter either...but that's because don't have an in-depth knowledge of Thai cuisine.

I forgot to mention that there's yet another Vietnamese dish that uses butter -it's shrimp/prawn sauteed with fish sauce, pepper and butter (it might be similar to the beef dish I described above). But I wouldn't have a clue what it tastes like since I've never had it before.

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FISH SAUCE and BUTTER???!!!??

←

Why YES indeed

Maybe you should give it a try and get back to me (I don't want to be the first)?

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I guess I'm the only one whose first reaction to that idea was "yum!" Fish sauce and butter could so totally work!

Oooo I have a potato craving what kind of miso do you use? I only have misoshiro (I think that's what its called, the white kind).

I'm beginning to think dairy use is a cultural misconception. Hrm... I can't think of a Thai dish with butter though. Rona? Can you think of one?

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I think shiromiso (white miso) would be a poor choice for the miso soup but might work for the broiled potatoes. Regular miso (I use mugi-miso, a chunky kind with barley added) would be best for both and is versatile enough to be worth buying a tub of.

[sanrensho]

In Vietnamese cuisine, there's a popular beef dish that uses butter, salt and pepper.

Do you know the name of the dish?

Fish sauce and butter also sounds good to me, since I like both in my fried rice (but haven't tried them together).