Eat Something Good

Asian Glaze & Marinade

For a while now, I’ve been thinking of ways to make plain boneless chicken breasts taste a little bit like chinese barbecue.  To me that meant creating something out of straight up hoisin sauce and chinese five spice powder.  I love the combination of anise, cinnamon, cloves, garlic & fennel.  So I kept seeing bottles of Soy Vay around and I became interested in it - mostly because of the size and shape of the bottle.  And the font used for labeling. Then I found out the story.  In brief, a jewish boy and a chinese girl hooked up and created a line of kosher asian themed sauces hence the name.  I thought it was a cute story and a cute name.

The first time I tried this product, I just slathered some on thin slices of chicken and baked it.  I was pleasantly surprised by the taste.  It had a little bit of the five spice powder ee taste to it.  And the hoisin part is a just sweet enough (not too sweet) and light.  I missed out on the garlic part but then again I think I have a high threshold for garlic.  I can take quite a bit of it.  Tonight I made a very quick stir fry using the Soy Vay hoisin garlic sauce which can also be used as a marinade.  I had Steve cut up some chicken into small pieces and I sauteed that up in a little olive oil, s & p.  Then I added two bags of frozen mixed veggies that I partially nuked.  The veggies included brocolli, carrots, sugar snap peas, red peppers, mushrooms and water chestnuts.  And then I poured on the Soy Vay sauce, tossed it around and added more sauce.  After a quick simmer, I served it piping hot over japanese sticky rice (Nishiki brand).

I was uncertain as to whether or not Steve (and a guest) would approve of the meal.  When I hear the word stir fry, I usually expect a soy based sauce with a definite soy flavor.  I warned them it would not be that way.  I had each of them smell the sauce before I added it to the chicken and vegetables.  Neither were thrilled but they weren’t disgusted either.  As it turned out, they both liked it enough to finish their plates.  And I put a good amount of food on each plate.  The hoisin-garlic sauce was tasty and flavored the dish well.  The chicken tasted like it had been marinating in it.  For my own hoisin sauce concoction, I’d probably go heavier on salt and spices.  All in all, I don’t regret making this purchase and I plan to use it as a template for my own sauce.  This dinner was very quick and easy to make.  The only part of it that I didn’t love is dealing with the chicken.  But that’s what boyfriends are for :P  If you’ve had a stressful day, keep it simple and as always, Eat Something Good!