This Month's Fare

Culinary Adventures at Home

Some of the most exciting and satisfying meals are often not found in fancy restaurants, but in family kitchens and from street vendors all over the world. A generation ago, it may have been a challenge to duplicate that exotic stir-fry you tasted in Indonesia. But today, supermarkets all over the U.S. stock ingredients that make it easier than ever to eat globally in your own home.

Produce sections are spilling over with fresh ginger, lemon grass, varieties of chili peppers, mangoes and jicama, eight kinds of mushrooms and potatoes from blue to pink. In the pasta and Asian aisles, you're surrounded by noodles of every type and shape — from rice sticks to soba, as well as rices from basmati to jasmine. When it comes to cheeses, you can take a trip around the world from Greek feta to Mexican cotija. With such a selection of ingredients available, you're half way to creating your favorite international recipes. And, with a wide selection of Kikkoman sauces and marinades at your fingertips, you can take it all the way.

In the West, people tend to think of soy sauce as a savory condiment for Asian foods. But that's just the delectable beginning. Certain qualities in soy sauce create umami – known as the "fifth flavor" (in addition to sweet, sour, salty and bitter). It gives it flavor-enhancing properties that actually elevate the flavors of other ingredients by triggering different taste receptors on the tongue.

For example:

• Kikkoman Soy Sauce adds depth of flavor and sweetness to tomato sauce. Try it on a pizza with arugula and sundried tomatoes, or in Mexican-style tomato salsa or Italian minestrone.

• Kikkoman Hoisin Sauce is as plum-rich in mu shu pork as it is with fresh cilantro sprigs in a Vietnamese spring roll.

• Kikkoman Quick & Easy Marinades can take chicken, pork or beef kabobs just about anywhere. Marinate and baste the kabobs as they grill or broil and serve with yams and black beans for a South American touch, or head to the Middle East and serve with warm pita bread and cool yogurt-cucumber sauce.

You get the idea. The world of food is big and varied — let Kikkoman help you explore it! Try Albondigas Soup with beef meatballs, onions, tomatoes, corn, kidney beans and Kikkoman Soy Sauce for a classic Mexican favorite. Polenta Cakes with Pesto-Tomato Salsa are sure to steal the show when Kikkoman Bread Crumbs (Panko) adds a delectable crunch to polenta cakes paired with a fresh tomato-pesto salsa.