What's the best soy sauce and olive oil?
 

I'm not a huge soy fan- I don't use it too often as I find that it triggers my
asthma. However, I have a crockpot recipe that I like a lot with soy sauce,
apricot preserves and honey. I've tried varying the amount of soy but it
always seems a little too strong flavor-wise, and I'm wondering if there is a
"nicer" soy sauce out there. I'm currently using Kikkomann Lite Soy Sauce.
ALso, I often hear people talk about using a "nice" or a "good" olive oil. I
always use extra virgin, but is there a brand that is better than any other?
Or is it just personal preference? I haven't found a major difference myself.
Thanks for any suggestions.

laurie

On 08 Jan 2005 02:23:38 GMT, ospam (laurie) wrote:

>I'm not a huge soy fan- I don't use it too often as I find that it triggers my
>asthma. However, I have a crockpot recipe that I like a lot with soy sauce,
>apricot preserves and honey. I've tried varying the amount of soy but it
>always seems a little too strong flavor-wise, and I'm wondering if there is a
>"nicer" soy sauce out there. I'm currently using Kikkomann Lite Soy Sauce.
>ALso, I often hear people talk about using a "nice" or a "good" olive oil. I
>always use extra virgin, but is there a brand that is better than any other?
>Or is it just personal preference? I haven't found a major difference myself.
>Thanks for any suggestions.
>
>laurie

Cooks Illustrated recently said they prefer Eden Selected Shoyu.

Boron

I've always heard that Extra Virgin Olive Oil from Tuscany is some of
the best. One of the many things they're known for. I've always heard
- that simple Virgin olive oil is better for cooking with, whereas
Extra Virgin is the culinary preference for pouring, sprinkling,
drizzling or using directly on foods. They are both simple functions
of the process.

I think it works Extra Virgin goes through the least processing, Virgin
more processing and then the simple olive oil is... the most processed.
But in reality I doubt that simple olive oil is really the "rot gut"
in comparison. There is a good site that shows some fairly high end
olive oil (the white truffle extra virgin is amazing). Mr-Olive.com

As far as soy sauce - I would imagine with the advent of macrobiotics,
health food websites, hypoallergenic everything that there are some
"easier" brands out there. Finding them may be as simple as going to
your local "health food nut" or searching the web. THat's my best
guess.

Hope this helps.

BP
www.outdoorculinary.com

"Outdoor Grilling & Cooking" > wrote in message
oups.com...
>
> As far as soy sauce - I would imagine with the advent of macrobiotics,
> health food websites, hypoallergenic everything that there are some
> "easier" brands out there.
>

The best soy sauce is easy, take a look at the Grateful Palate
and its incredible import:
http://mgrsti5395q.seamlesstech.biz/...exclusive.html

pavane

Laurie,
There are almost 300 brands of soy sauce available in the US. You
can't really expect any one to be "the best". Some are stronger than
others, like tamari, some lite in color and flavor, some low sodium,
and a slew of sauces with oriental writing who's labels defy
description unless tasted. Try a few, and find the ones that you like.

Olive oil, is much the same. Your EVOO, typically is a more fruity and
peppery oil, darker in color, and more suited to salads, bruschetta,
sauces, and the like where you want a great premium full flavored olive
oil to shine. I wouldn't use it to fry in as a generality. Tuscany's
got many good ones, as well as Spain, and now the vintners in
California.

My favorite EVOO at this point, is Napa Valley EVOO. A lovely blend
for me, use it to dip bread in, salads, and even on fried eggs. Pass
the salt.
Another good one is Monini Novello from Italy. Reasonably priced at
about 9 bucks.

Pierre

Laurie,
There are almost 300 brands of soy sauce available in the US. You
can't really expect any one to be "the best". Some are stronger than
others, like tamari, some lite in color and flavor, some low sodium,
and a slew of sauces with oriental writing who's labels defy
description unless tasted. Try a few, and find the ones that you like.

Olive oil, is much the same. Your EVOO, typically is a more fruity and
peppery oil, darker in color, and more suited to salads, bruschetta,
sauces, and the like where you want a great premium full flavored olive
oil to shine. I wouldn't use it to fry in as a generality. Tuscany's
got many good ones, as well as Spain, and now the vintners in
California.

My favorite EVOO at this point, is Napa Valley EVOO. A lovely blend
for me, use it to dip bread in, salads, and even on fried eggs. Pass
the salt.
Another good one is Monini Novello from Italy. Reasonably priced at
about 9 bucks.

Pierre

laurie wrote:
> I'm not a huge soy fan- I don't use it too often as I find that it
triggers my
> asthma. However, I have a crockpot recipe that I like a lot with soy
sauce,
> apricot preserves and honey. I've tried varying the amount of soy
but it
> always seems a little too strong flavor-wise, and I'm wondering if
there is a
> "nicer" soy sauce out there. I'm currently using Kikkomann Lite Soy
Sauce.


Laurie,

I'm not going to touch the olive oil question, but here's a bit about
soy sauce. Different soy sauces differ just like different wines or
beers or whatever. So just try different ones until you find one you
like. I usually use one from the Philippines. (Maybe try an Asian
market instead of the supermarket.) And look at the ingredients and
see what may be causing it to trigger your asthma. Some have wheat,
some don't. Some have this, some have that. You may be allergic to the
soy, or it may be something else. If it's something else, then keep
trying until you find one that doesn't cause you problems.
Hope this helps,

Ken

laurie wrote:
> I'm not a huge soy fan- I don't use it too often as I find that it
triggers my
> asthma. However, I have a crockpot recipe that I like a lot with soy
sauce,
> apricot preserves and honey. I've tried varying the amount of soy
but it
> always seems a little too strong flavor-wise, and I'm wondering if
there is a
> "nicer" soy sauce out there. I'm currently using Kikkomann Lite Soy
Sauce.


Laurie,

I'm not going to touch the olive oil question, but here's a bit about
soy sauce. Different soy sauces differ just like different wines or
beers or whatever. So just try different ones until you find one you
like. I usually use one from the Philippines. (Maybe try an Asian
market instead of the supermarket.) And look at the ingredients and
see what may be causing it to trigger your asthma. Some have wheat,
some don't. Some have this, some have that. You may be allergic to the
soy, or it may be something else. If it's something else, then keep
trying until you find one that doesn't cause you problems.
Hope this helps,

Ken

For olive oil, go to a store with a very good selection and taste. Don't
dip in the bread, but put a little spoon up to your lips and suck in.
You get the smell, the warmth, etc. I have may favourites, but yours
will be different. Be prepared to spend good money.

For things like soy sauce, I have great faith in Bruce Cost's Asian
Ingredients, now out in a second edition. He talks about such things in
detail. For plain old daily soysauce, I use Pearl River Golden Label,
per his advise and I'm very happy with it. Soy sauce is cheaper than
olive oil and I advise investing in 20 bottles and trying them out.
People like soy sauce, and any time I've had a bottle that I wasn't
going to finish, I'd take it to work where it was polished off in short
order.
blacksalt

Far as I can tell, someone wrote:

>I always use extra virgin, but is there a brand that is better than any other?
>Or is it just personal preference?

I'm no Don Corleone, but I don't see how a brand name can matter much.
Still, quality control is bound to vary somewhat.

I have found that extra extra vigin oil is best tasting, and the greener
the oil, the lighter the taste, which is what I prefer.

San-J is a good brand of tamari and is widely available.
I prefer their low-sodium tamari. It is not light in flavor
however. For variety I also keep a bottle of Bragg's Liquid
Aminos on hand (a product made from hydrolyzed wheat that can
be used like soy sauce).

For a really good Italian olive oil, try one of the ones
imported by Stephen Singer:

http://www.oakvillegrocery.com/produ...259&prodID=292

Steve

In article >,
ospam (laurie) wrote:

> I'm not a huge soy fan- I don't use it too often as I find that it triggers my
> asthma. However, I have a crockpot recipe that I like a lot with soy sauce,
> apricot preserves and honey. I've tried varying the amount of soy but it
> always seems a little too strong flavor-wise, and I'm wondering if there is a
> "nicer" soy sauce out there. I'm currently using Kikkomann Lite Soy Sauce.
> ALso, I often hear people talk about using a "nice" or a "good" olive oil. I
> always use extra virgin, but is there a brand that is better than any other?
> Or is it just personal preference? I haven't found a major difference myself.
> Thanks for any suggestions.

What is the recipe? Depending on the recipe, you might be able to get
away with excluding soy sauce from it or simply reducing the amount.

As for olive oil brands, it is entirely a matter of personal preference.
Try a few different olive oil brands and decide which one you prefer. I
like whatever is on sale, but that's just me. I don't use much olive oil.

> I've tried varying the amount of soy but it
>always seems a little too strong flavor-wise, and I'm wondering if there is a
>"nicer" soy sauce out there.

You might try tamari. It's a mellow soy sauce, with a taste that is more
complex than that of most supermarket brands. You can find it in many large
groceries these days. If you have a Whole Foods, they usually sell it in bulk.

Also, there is no one "best" olive oil. It's a matter of finding one you enjoy.