ponzu

The Best Steak Marinade in 30 Minutes

This easy Asian master sauce marinade is the key to tenderizing and adding loads of flavor to create a steak that takes only 30 minutes up to overnight to marinate, making it a favorite for fast weeknight dinners.

Steak dinners come in many sizes and even more price points, making it feel like a tasty steak dinner as a midweek meal is way out of reach.

But turning an average Wednesday “hump day dinner” into “stunning steak night” is a whole lot easier than you may think.

The keys are to choose the right cut of steak and then marinade it in my Asian master sauce marinade that’s ready to do its job at a moment’s notice.

Okay, make that 30 moments of notice, but that’s quick enough and close enough for me. And soon enough, for you too.

continue to the recipe… about The Best Steak Marinade in 30 Minutes

Ramen Noodles with Marinated Steak and Broccoli

Ramen noodles aren’t just for soup anymore. Here’s how to hack every college student’s favorite noodle recipe and give it an instant upgrade by turning it into an easy and healthy weeknight meal ready in just 30 minutes or less.

If you’re looking for a soupy ramen recipe with that rich, tonkotsu or miso broth with slow-roasted pork belly and jammy eggs, this isn’t it.

But if you’re looking for an incredibly easy, time-saving, totally-flavorful, make-most-of-it-ahead-of-time meal? THIS IS YOUR DINNER, BABY!

I’ve had a version of this recipe written down in my old-fashioned recipe binder for years. Literally, years, and yes! Handwritten recipe files do still exist! Take THAT Pinterest! I don’t remember where the original recipe came from, maybe an old issue of Cooking Light?

Regardless, I’ve doctored it up and made it into a make-ahead weeknight meal that is in and out of the skillet and ready to devour in under 30 minutes.

And if you’re lucky? Yep. Leftovers for lunch the next day.

So what’s my secret? A little planning ahead, some light meal prep vegetable chop chop, and a super easy master marinade that does double-time as the sauce, too.

Easy peasy because that just the way I do!

How to Give Ramen Noodles an Instant Upgrade

This noodle recipe calls for good, old fashioned, cheap-o grocery store ramen noodles. But you won’t be needing that seasoning packet they come with because this dish gets its flavor from a recipe I posted earlier this week, my master Asian marinade master sauce.

Now, this isn’t just any sauce. It’s like the Swiss army knife of sauces. It’s a sauce, it’s a marinade, it’s a dressing, it’s a flavoring, it’s Superman!continue to the recipe… about Ramen Noodles with Marinated Steak and Broccoli

Asian Marinade Master Sauce

Whether it’s used as an Asian marinade for beef, chicken, pork, tofu or fish, or as a dressing for vegetables, salads, or pastas, or even as a flavoring for rice, quinoa, or any number of grains, this is the ultimate Asian master sauce and is the secret to making meal prep easier than ever before.

Healthy and delicious food doesn’t have to be complex. In fact, when your cooking method centers around meal prep and batch cooking, the most basic of ingredients can easily be transformed into craveable dishes everyone will want and come back asking for more.

The secret is in the master sauce, and it’s the whole idea behind batch cooking.

This strategy is the centerpiece of our Nourished Planner Batch Cooking Basics meal prep guide, where we share the strategy and recipes for preparing five basic master recipes as the interchangeable base to build just one meal, or even a whole week’s worth.

This Asian master sauce recipe is a multi-layer tool that isn’t limited to just being a seasoning added to a dish at the end. With a simple shake of a mason jar, this master sauce can become a marinade, a salad dressing, added to the cooking water for a more flavorful grain or sautéed or tossed with vegetables for even more infused flavor within reach of your garlic-scented fingertips.

continue to the recipe… about Asian Marinade Master Sauce

Broccoli and Shiitake Mushrooms With or Without Soba Noodles

Hearty soba noodles are tossed with stir-fried broccoli and shiitake mushrooms and ponzu sauce for an easy, healthy, and delicious dish that pairs well with any protein.

I tend to get into the trap of not always sharing our tried and true dishes. The ones we eat over, and over, and over again.

Why not? I’m not sure.

I guess I think they’re mundane. Too boring. Not enough Pow! Bam! Wow!

When in reality, we’re all searching for ways to make our lives easier, and that should start with our favorite foodie eats.continue to the recipe… about Broccoli and Shiitake Mushrooms With or Without Soba Noodles

Asian Inspired Ponzu Recipes

photo > foodiecrush

On a search for something to make for dinner and trying to keep it as so-many-say-usually-in-air-quotes “figure-friendly”, we thought that a light Asian sauce would fit the ~~swimsuit~~ bill. So onto the web we went, searching for a fish recipe that could be marinated quickly in combination with one of my favorite condiments, the super-versatile ponzu sauce.

Not familiar with ponzu? Well, it’s similar to soy sauce, but lighter, less salty and flavored with citrus such as orange or lime. It adds a more subtle saltiness to fish, chicken, meat and maybe even ice cream? (send us a recipe if you find one.) My favorite is my husband’s version of broiled broccoli with shitake mushrooms.

photo > Rasa Malaysia

A quick trip to the store led us to fresh sea bass, the web led us to Baked Sea Bass from Bee Yinn Low of Rasa Malaysia, and the rest was delicious dinner history. We added a side of soba noodles, sliced cucumbers, shitake mushrooms, green onion and a bit more ponzu plus a shot of sesame oil for an over the top ponzu-love-fest (as shown in top of post photo.) To find more delicious recipes from the ever-talented Bee, pre-order her gorgeous new cookbook, Easy Chinese Recipes: Family Favorites From Dim Sum to Kung Pao.

photo > The Perfect Pantry

Carmelized. Sweet yet salty. Beefy. The Perfect Pantry’s easy recipe for Grilled Flank Steak with Ponzu and Honey Glaze cut across the grain and served with her Asian Broccoli Slaw makes for a perfectly delicious, and quick, weeknight meal. Don’t miss checking out the bottom of Lydia’s post for several other ponzu recipes from a few other foodie bloggers.

photo > La Fuji Mama

Two of my all time tofu favorites are the simple Japanese dishes of Hiyayakko and Agedashi tofu, but I like to substitute the dashi for ponzu, and of course top it with sliced green onion and salty bonito flakes. This newly found version from Rachael at La Fuji Mama calls Ponzu Tofu Steak takes the basic Agedashi dish and blows if out of the water by frying tofu topped with minced garlic in a cornstarch crust, then adding Siracha sauce and topping it with sweetened ponzu. Yes, my mouth is at full drool. Yum.

all photos credited to accompanying blogs above

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