Buzz
Like every other food writer, my fridge is filled with jars of mysterious pickles, infusions, and marinades. I (mostly) adore them all, but I have my favorites, and right now, a jam jar full of soy sauce, garlic skins, scallion ends, and ginger peels is the shining star of my kitchen.
The backstory is a familiar one: I was feeling lazy and accidentally did something clever. A few weeks ago, while preparing fried rice, I ended up with a pile of allium scraps and a full compost bin. Rather than dispose of them like a responsible adult, I decided to toss those bits into a bowl of soy sauce and let them soak while I prepped the other ingredients. After just 10 minutes, the soy sauce had absorbed a strong infusion of garlic, ginger, and scallions. It made for a killer fried rice.
Instead of tossing the scraps, I decided to top them off with more soy sauce, transfer everything to a jar, and let it sit in the fridge for a while to see how far I could take the extraction. Nearly three weeks in, and I haven’t reached its limit yet. The infusion grows stronger and funkier with time, but in a good way. I think the soy sauce’s naturally salty and pungent qualities really let it absorb alliums without disrupting the flavor balance.
If you often cook with ginger, garlic, and scallions, I highly recommend creating your own little infusion jar. It's a fantastic condiment to have on hand for a variety of stir-fries and marinades, but I particularly love it combined with seasoned rice vinegar to make an incredibly flavorful dipping sauce for dumplings (and other dishes).
