OFF THE SHELF
Soy paste adds depth to stir-fries

By Wanda A. Adams
Advertiser Food Editor

Kimlan soy paste is a salty, slightly thick stir-fry sauce. Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser

Soy sauce consists of soy beans, wheat, water and salt. But soy paste — Kimlan, from Taiwan, is the brand widely available here — contains sugar, rice and potato starch as well. These ingredients add a little thickness, a slight sweetness and a blurrier flavor than the relatively clean saltiness of soy sauce. The sodium content is about that of low-sodium soy sauce, 500 milli-grams per tablespoon.

Use soy paste as you would stir-fry sauces such as oyster sauce or mushroom-flavored sauce: as a marinade and/or as an ingredient in stir-fry.

You can marinate meat, tofu or other ingredients in the sauce first, then wipe excess sauce away and stir-fry with desired vegetables.

Finish the stir-fry with a splash of soy paste, allowing the mixture to bubble and thicken. Serve hot.

Another option is to use the soy paste in cold noodles, as in this recipe adapted from one on the Web site of William Chuang, a New York computer scientist with a penchant for cooking (www.mit.edu:8001/people/wchuang/cooking/cooking.html):

First, cook a box of No. 4 Asian noodles, rinse in cold water to stop the cooking, drain and chill. Make the sauce by blending together a heaping teaspoon of tahini (sesame butter), 2 teaspoons sesame oil and a tablespoon of soy paste.

Add 2 teaspoons peanut butter and a few drops of chili oil, 1/2 teaspoon of vinegar and finely grated ginger to taste.

Taste as you go and correct seasonings. Pour sauce over noodles and toss with some chopped green onion and about 1 teaspoon of toasted sesame seeds.