Shiokoji Lemon Dressing

For this bento, I made a fried egg and ginger pork seasoned with shoyu, honey and a bit of ginger powder.





Today's post features Milky shiokoji lemon dressing. It is mild and light in taste. I think it goes with dishes like Salad Niçoise, especially boiled potatoes. Of course any simple salad too!




Milky Shiokoji Lemon Dressing (for 4 - 5 salad plates)
3 tablespoon shiokoji
3 tablespoon soy milk or milk or plain yogurt (each of them works)
1/2 - 1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 - 1 tablespoon olive oil
A little cracked black pepper

This is way much healthier than mayonnaise. Will you try it out?

Shiokoji Sauce for Cold Noodles

Quick and meat bentos continue. It's the easiest to make in the busy mornings. I feel kind of bad about consuming some meat everyday though. I have to feed the two hyenas anyway. Despite of eating a lot everyday, they are not fat at all, which doesn't make ANY sense to me hah. Well, I prepare meat and something other for bento as I make dinner so next morning I only have to take them out of the fridge and cook in a pan or just pack into a bento box. Is that not so new? Okay you've done things like that already, I know, haha. Today's meat is shoyu-koji chicken that I marinated the night before.





Today I'm going to show my favorite sauce for cold noodles. I've actually been trying to use less processed foods lately, and also to get rid of bottled sauces and salad dressings. My shiokoji has been a big help to me to quick make sauces myself. Another good thing about sauces with shiokoji is that you can take the enzymes and koji bacteria raw, which means that you can make the most of the goodness of shiokoji. I will be sharing some more sauce recipes with shiokoji sometime soon. Ah wait, don't get me wrong. I am not a missioner or pious votary of Shiokoji cult lol! (It exists nowhere in case.) Not that I'm totally committed to shiokoji. It's just useful for my easy sauce-making because it has umami (an extra good flavor), mild sweetness (natural glucide) and some thickness that's ideal for sauces. That's why I've been on a shiokoji spree lately.








Shiokoji sauce for cold noodles (for 3 - 4 plates)
4 tablespoon plain yogurt
2 tablespoon shiokoji
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon peanut butter
1 tablespoon sugar, adjust depending on your peanut butter
A little doubanjiang (or any red chilli sauce/oil you like), or as much as you want
A tiny bit of grated garlic and sesame oil if you like

If it turns out too strong in taste add a bit of water right before serving. This sauce goes great with cold udon too.

Shiokoji Tofu

This bento contains salmon flakes, spinach with peanut shiokoji sauce, curry mayo flavored chikuwa slices and shiokoji pork saute.





Ya know, a whipped-up bento as usual.





In the meantime, I made shiokoji tofu a while back. For those not familiar with shiokoji tofu, it is tofu marinated in a little shiokoji for a while. Shiokoji makes tofu creamy and taste better because of the enzymes in it, just like soft cheese, Mozzarella or cream cheese, so is it safe to say that this is a vegan cheese? Don't you think it's perfect for vegan Caprese?





I drained tofu thoroughly, then coated in shiokoji evenly and kept it in the fridge for a week or so.

Shiokoji Tofu
About 2 tablespoon shiokoji per pack of tofu.
Soft tofu or firm, try it out with whatever you like!