It’s very straightforward making soy and ginger sauce at home, so the focus for getting this sauce right is all on the ingredients you choose. Firstly, you’ll want to make sure you select quality ingredients to produce the tastiest sauce. You’ll also need to follow the recipe closely to ensure you manage the flavors well. It’s a delicate assortment of ingredients that all offset each other and offer levels of spice, sweetness, umami, and bitterness to create a balanced sauce.
Sugar is an essential ingredient in this recipe to balance out the saltiness of the soy sauce. We’ve shared the recipe above using granulated sugar, but it is possible to swap this out for honey or maple syrup to add a slightly different flavor profile to the sauce.
Ideally it’s better to use fresh ginger root and freshly squeezed lemon juice to make sure the flavors really pop in the sauce. You could use store-bought lemon juice but it won’t have the same bright flavor as a freshly squeezed lemon at home. If you’re worried about what to do with any leftover fresh ginger root, you’ll be pleasantly surprised to know you can extend the life of fresh ginger in the fridge. Unpeeled ginger can last for over a month in the fridge. If it’s already been grated, you can wrap the ginger in aluminum foil and place into the fridge to keep for up to a week.
It’s possible to tweak the ingredients to alter the final flavor of the sauce as desired. Some chefs will use a mixture of dark and light soy sauce, for example, to introduce different consistencies and tastes. Light soy sauce is thinner and saltier, whereas dark soy sauce is thicker and less salty. In fact, there are so many different types of soy sauce, which can vary greatly depending on where in the world you are. Some soy sauces are even barrel-aged in Japan, to enhance the flavor, and can be sold after maturation for ultra-premium prices. Equally, you can experiment with the vinegar, switching the white wine vinegar for another option like rice vinegar to add a sweeter and milder taste than the acidic notes of white wine vinegar.
How to Serve it
This soy and ginger sauce can be served at room temperature for immediate use. It’s perfect for dipping dumplings into for a tasty dipping sauce for appetizers or even as a lighter dinner. You can also heat the sauce up and use it in dishes to add flavor depth. Ginger and soy sauce chicken is a delectable dish, and you can simply add this sauce to the pan once your chicken is cooked through and wait for it to reduce and become a little sticky. Salmon in soy ginger sauce is another classic combination, and you can try baking the salmon with the sauce in the oven covered with foil to preserve the moisture.
Lastly, it can be used as a marinade for ingredients like tofu. Add the tofu to the sauce and leave it for at least 30 minutes to marinate before cooking. Or try drizzling this sauce over dishes like salads or fresh noodles for an alternative way to make the most of this sauce.
Storage
As you can amend the quantities depending on the amount of sauce you need for your dish or recipe, there shouldn’t be too much remaining. If you do find you have some excess sauce on your hands, however, you can transfer it to an airtight container and it should keep for up to a week in the fridge. After this time, it’s best to make a fresh batch for cooking with. If you’ve used the sauce for dipping and have some leftovers, it’s not advisable to transfer any of this to storage given it’s had contact with other food and potential bacteria.
