One sushi chef's take on essential Asian sauces

Chef Andrew Nam earned his nickname, "Sauce Man," the old-fashioned way. He worked hard for it.

The driving force behind Stingray Sushi in Scottsdale, Nam has built a loyal following for the sauces he creates for dipping, stir-frying and marinating.

"There's absolutely nothing wrong with the traditional Asian sauce of soy and wasabi, but who said you can't add other flavors? Not me. You could say I'm not a traditionalist, and that I love creating refreshing, new sauces," said Nam, a Chicago native who has spent nearly 25 years working in sushi houses.

Like bechamel in French and salsa in Mexican cuisines, Asian sauces are meant to enhance the flavor of food, from sashimi to noodle dishes.

For Nam, the key is creating a sauce that wakes up, not overpowers, companion flavors. He typically uses no more than six ingredients, and all the sauces can be made in minutes in the blender or with a whisk and bowl. They're best served fresh.

His inspiration comes from eating.

"When I taste something I like, I file it away until I am in the kitchen whipping up sauces," he said.

A sushi chef who refused to eat fish as a child, Nam adds international twists to Japanese sauces, including such ingredients as Dijon mustard, capers and mayonnaise. Most often, however, he turns to the Asian pantry for ingredients. His essentials for making Asian sauces include the following:

• Soy sauce. This salty brown sauce is the fundamental ingredient in Asian sauces. It's made from soybeans and a starter called koji that begins the fermentation. A brine of sea salt is added after the mixture has aged for three to five days. Read labels and buy naturally fermented sauce. Factory-formulated products taste nothing like the natural version.

• Chili sauce. This spicy sauce adds a hefty kick. It's made from chile peppers, salt, oil and, often, garlic.

• Black vinegar and rice-wine vinegar. Asian vinegars have been used for centuries as seasonings and medicinal antiseptics. Rice-wine vinegar is rice wine minus the alcohol and is mildly flavored. Black vinegar is a complex blend of rice and malt. Similar to balsamic, it cuts the "fishy" smell of raw seafood.

• White miso. This is a paste made by fermenting rice, barley and soybeans with salt and fungus. Miso is typically salty, and its flavor and aroma depend on factors in the ingredients and fermentation process. White is the lighter flavor.

• Sesame oil. This amber-colored oil is pressed from roasted sesame seeds and adds smoky flavor. A little goes a long way.

• Soybean oil. Commonly called vegetable oil, this pale yellow oil is made from soybeans.

• Shabu-shabu. A savory sauce typically served with a dish of the same name, paper-thin slices of beef and vegetables cooked at the table in a pot of hot broth.

• Gari. This is sweet, young ginger that has been marinated in a solution of sugar and vinegar.

For chef Andrew Nam, the key is a sauce that wakes up, not overpowers, companion flavors.