I have questionable feelings about sesame oil

[thistlechaser]

I went grocery shopping today and got some boneless country ribs. I had intended to just toss it in a crock pot with a bottle of BBQ sauce, but I decided to be more adventurous.

I'm following this recipe with slight changes. I have no lime juice, so using lemon. I have no fresh ginger, so using powder (Google tells me to use a quarter of the amount when using powder, it looked like an awful lot though). I totally left out the Sriracha, because any heat at all makes my tongue cry.

The issue is the sesame oil though. I bought some today (100% chance, I hadn't seen this recipe yet), I thought I could use it as a light drizzle in things like ramen and stuff. Reading the comments on the recipe, some people said the sesame was overpowering, so I cut it back a bit (replacing with more olive oil). Problem is, even after multiple rinsings, the measuring cup smells so strong! I can smell it from a room away. What in the world is it going to taste like in the dish if it's so strong with so little of it?

Guess we'll see tomorrow! Everything's going to marinate overnight and I'll cook it tomorrow. Makes me paranoid to let it run when I'm not at home, but it's meant to do that, so hopefully it'll be okay and not burn my apartment down.

Comments

[kirbyk.livejournal.com]

When this kind of stuff works, it's fantastic! Best of luck! :)

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I hope it works well!

[ani-mama.livejournal.com]

A teeny bit of sesame oil goes a long way! I love the stuff, but if you have never tried it the smell can be overpowering.

[ani-mama.livejournal.com]

PS I just looked at the recipe. Quarter cup of sesame oil? Yikes, I don't think I have ever used that much in any dish. For a marinade I would think a tablespoon is more than enough. Good luck!

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

I was afraid of that! I thought it was just used as a drizzle and little bits, too. Hope it comes out okay...

[ani-mama.livejournal.com]

A lot of the smell does go away with cooking, so it might be fine. But most of the time sesame oil is used as a small drizzle to finish a dish.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's what I had thought, too...

[kishenehn.livejournal.com]

I absolutely love sesame oil ... but in small doses. If I overdo it, the oil does weird things to my gut. :/

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Ack! My stomach tends to be iffy about lots of things. Hopefully this will be okay...

[tersa.livejournal.com]

I loooooove sesame oil, but as others have said it can be strong so cutting back on it helps.

But 'rinsing' isn't going to help get rid of the smell--it's an oil. :) You'll need to wash it in hot soapy water to dissolve it away.

My guess is, though, it's going to mellow out in the marinade. Sesame oil is full of umami which should accentuate the meaty flavor of the ribs.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Ah, that's a good point about rinsing. I ended up running the dishwasher last night, so I could be rid of it.

I'm going to plug the crock pot in when I run home for lunch! So not too many hours until we find out how this came out.

[teaandfailure.livejournal.com]

AAAHGAHD I have been messing with house so I saw this late but: don't substitute powdered for fresh ginger, it's one of the only spices where the taste is COMPLETELY different. I mean, if it is still good yay, but if it tastes weird then try again with the fresh.

OKAY BACK TO HOUSE.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

I'm going to get some fresh next time! I've read you can store it in the freezer, so that should work. :D