Sweet Yet Sour

The Seven Year Soy Sauce

Wednesday, June 16th, 2010 | Cooking

Seven years ago this August I bought a 1 gallon can of soy sauce.  I have finally finished off the last bit of this huge can of soy sauce and it makes me a little sad…

You see, seven years ago my friends Pete and Stacey asked me to cater their wedding rehearsal dinner.  I jumped at the chance to do a little free-lance catering, even though at the time, cooking for 65-70 people sounded a little daunting.  They were so great to let me, an unlicensed cook, serve dinner to their friends and family.

In preparation for the dinner I shopped at a bulk store and it was there that I purchased the 1 gallon soy sauce can.  I was using the soy sauce for my sesame soy chicken, which turned out to be a hit at the dinner and ironically, was how I finally finished off the can.  Here’s the recipe:

Sesame Soy Sauce

1 Tblsp sesame seeds

2 tsp grated ginger

2 Tblsp honey

2 Tblsp soy sauce

Toast sesame seeds in a pan and add to the remaining ingredients.  Mix together and baste on chicken breasts or tenders (about 1lb of chicken) before and during grilling.

The wedding was held at a beautiful home on a hill outside of Winter Park.  This meant that the day of the rehearsal dinner, me and my CR-V, packed with four coolers and a lot of food hiked it up to 9,059 feet.  I had spent the two days before baking and prepping all of the food that could be prepared ahead.

Here’s the menu:

Veggie tray w/onion dill dip (my dip, bulk veggies)

Toasted french bread w/Ricotta herb spread

Romaine salad with avocado and orange, served with orange honey dressing

Garden salad

Gazpacho

Burgers

Grilled shrimp in citrus marinade

Grilled chicken w/sesame soy sauce

Key Lime cheesecake

Strawberry shortcake

Freshly squeezed lemonade, Homemade Ice Tea and Sangria

I had written down what time I needed to start prepping, in what order everything needed to be done and had made little cards for everything I was serving that included the name and the ingredients. (My sister had just been diagnosed with a wheat allergy and I thought it best to tell people what was in everything.)  Even though I was not a professional, I felt like I was that day!  The next day, the actual caterer who provided the wedding food didn’t have labels!  And best of all, no one got sick from my food (that I know of anyway).

I was so gung ho that I even made fresh whipping cream for the strawberry shortcake!  I don’t think I would have been able to pull it off myself; I had help peeling avocados, cutting oranges and strawberries and someone’s Uncle Randy stood at the grill all evening cooking the burgers, shrimp and chicken.

Seven years later, Pete and Stacey have two adorable little girls, Siena and Aniela, and a man that I had just started dating is my husband and the father of my two children.  Amazing!  That soy sauce saw me through for a long time and a lot of stir fry, sesame soy sauce and other meals.  Farewell to you my giant gas can of soy sauce!

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