People Are Putting This Savory Condiment on Ice Cream—I Had To Try It
It’s sweet, salty, and wildly delicious.
It’s a pretty widely accepted fact that salty-sweet food combinations are absolutely delicious. Where would we be without maple bacon? Or chocolate-dipped pretzels? Or even dessert-ready chocolate and peanut butter or salted caramel? But sometimes, there’s a strange food combo that stops you in your tracks. In this case, it’s putting soy sauce on your ice cream.
That’s right: People are drizzling delicious, salty, umami-filled soy sauce all over their sweet ice cream. Honestly? I’m totally here for it.
TikTok influencer Claire Dinhut, better known as @condimentclaire, posted a video last summer saying that she’d put soy sauce on anything, including her ice cream.
Soy Sauce on Ice Cream: The Verdict
Naturally, I had to try it for myself. I scooped some of my favorite vanilla ice cream into a bowl (Trader Joe’s French Vanilla or bust in my household), drizzled a small amount of soy sauce over the top, and dug in. As a soy sauce lover myself, I wasn’t totally surprised to discover that I liked it.
The salty, umami-rich soy sauce makes a good match for sweet ice cream, but it’s an intense combination—each bite felt like it changed subtly as I ate it, starting with distinct sweet and salty tastes before melding together and softening. I turned to trusty Kikkoman Japanese shoyu soy sauce because I had it on hand, but I’d be curious to try it with different soy sauces, such as a dark Chinese soy sauce that has a thicker texture. One important note: start with a small drizzle, then add more if you like. You don’t necessarily want to treat this topping like chocolate sauce.
I’m not the only one that enjoyed the combo. TikTok commenter Chelsie said, “THANK YOU!! I’ve been putting soy sauce on vanilla ice cream for 15 years,” and user Iz.Esther said, “This feels like the logical extension of salted caramel and makes so much sense to me!”
Sweet Ways to Use Savory Soy Sauce
In addition to putting viewers on to soy sauce and ice cream, Claire also suggested adding soy sauce to maple syrup. Viewers came in with their own recommendations for soy sauce on citrus or mango, mixing a little soy sauce into Coca-Cola, and even more sweet and salty ice cream combinations.
TikTok user Lisa said, “I own an ice cream shop and our employees will sometimes do soy sauce, chili crisp, hot honey, or balsamic. So good!” A few people noted that they’d try it with miso, which resulted in me sprinting to my kitchen to dole out my second serving of ice cream that day and mixing in a bit of white miso I had in the fridge. I’m happy to report that the miso ice cream was similarly satisfying.
The next time you’re seeking a sweet-and-salty ice cream treat, try grabbing the soy sauce before heading to the store for novelty ice cream. You might be pleasantly surprised.
Read the original article on All Recipes.
