Calf Fries to Capons

I was reminded yesterday that if a recipe (or a laboratory procedure) calls for something unusual, that makes you go: "hmm, Why is that in there?"  It is probably in there for a good reason. "Milk" by Zeyus Media is licensed under CC BY 2.0 I was trying to make tomato soup with just tomato paste, here in the quarantine world.  I could only find tomato paste in the pantry.  I found recipes for tomato soup from tomato paste, both called for adding baking soda.  It seemed really odd and my chemistry background couldn't really see a need for it. ...I realized after making the recipe, 1 can of tomato paste + 4 cans of milk, that the baking soda was there to keep the acid of the tomato paste from coagulating the milk.  I ended up with a tasty, but lumpy soup.

I put this recipe together after tasting something similar on brussels sprouts.  The one I tasted relied more on the soy sauce and had no gochujang. I put this on halved brussels sprouts and then roast them in the toaster oven. 6 oz. of soy sauce 2 oz. vegetable oil 1 oz. of rice vinegar 1 teaspoon of sesame oil 1 teaspoon of fish sauce 2 tablespoons of gochujang 1/2 teaspoon of xanthan gum 1/2 teaspoon of garlic The xanthan gum acts as a thickener.  It will stick better to the sprouts in the oven.  I make this in a blender bottle and shake it up a few times here and there because the gochujang is very thick. I don't think it's really necessary to "marinate" the sprouts.  Just make sure the sauce gets in all the nooks and crannies. I cook the brussel sprouts at 350°F until some of the outer leaves start getting black and crispy.