One of the chief concerns for people transitioning into a gluten-free diet is the potential loss of flavor in food. Fears of a vast, bland, plain, flavorless oasis can be paramount for some. This is because we all know that the secret is in the sauce, but the problem is that so many sauces use gluten-containing ingredients like wheat flour or soy sauce to add the flavor. However a flood of new gluten-free sauces are hitting the marketing, providing not only flavor but also moisture to potentially dry dishes. And San-J Gluten-Free Teriyaki Stir-Fry and Marinade is one of them.
Traditional teriyaki sauce uses soy sauce as it’s primary ingredient, whereby wheat becomes the rub. San-J has simply substituted the soy sauce with tamari. Both soy sauce and tamari are made from fermented soybeans; the only difference is that tamari has no wheat, which some find makes it taste less salty than soy sauce. And the ingredient mix with this creative teriyaki sauce just gets better. The sweetness of plum juice concentrate and ginger puree finds a balance with the tanginess of apple cider vinegar and garlic puree. Not to mention there is no MSG found here – always a bonus.
More to love is that the sauce is “Certified Gluten-Free” and its manufacturing site has been inspected by the Gluten-Free Certification Organization (www.gfco.org), so any fears of cross contamination can be put to ease. What you are left with is a marinade that is not too thick or overpowering, rather deeply flavorful and an excellent addition even to raw vegetables. Fast weeknight dinners like stir fry’s or grilled chicken get an Asian infusion with almost half the sodium found in regular soy sauce (390 mg per serving compared to almost 900 mg in some soy sauce brands).
The San-J Teriyaki sauce retails for around $4.29 and a family of two can easily get two meals out of a bottle. From wings that will impress your football-watching guests to an unexpected burger addition, this sauce can easily cross culinary borders. It does need to be refrigerated after opening and you have months before it will expire. But chances are it won’t last that long. Look for this sauce in the Asian section of your local supermarket, and stock up – this is a versatile pantry staple no one should forgo.
Jess Kelley, MNT