Ponzu-Marinated Cherry Tomatoes

Photo: Down to Earth Recipes
Make a bunch of these tomatoes at one time and eat them periodically over the next week. They're great on their own or dressed with olive oil and black pepper.
Yield
3 cups
Vegan
Appetizers and Sides
Ingredients
  • 1/2 cup dried shiitake mushrooms (about 10)
  • 2 long pieces kombu seaweed
  • 1/2 cup soy sauce
  • 1/4 cup mirin
  • Juice of 2 lemons (or 1 lemon, 1 lime)
  • 1 pound cherry or grape tomatoes
Instructions
  1. Make the dashi: Soak dried mushrooms and kombu in 1 liter water overnight or for 8-12 hours. Pour into a pot and bring to a boil. Remove kombu and lower heat to a simmer. Simmer mushrooms 20-30 minutes. Remove mushrooms and reserve for another use. Allow the dashi to cool down.
  2. Make the ponzu: add soy sauce, mirin, and citrus juice to dashi. Adjust seasoning to you liking (remember this is a marinating liquid so it should be more salty, sour, and sweet than you think).
  3. Bring a pot of fresh water to a boil.
  4. Prepare an ice bath by adding ice cubes to a bowl of cool water.
  5. Dunk a quarter of the tomatoes into the boiling water for 10-20 seconds, until you see the skin just start to loosen. The point is not to cook the tomatoes but to make it easy to seperate the skin. Remove tomatoes and plunge into the ice bath. Continue this process until all the tomatoes have been processed.
  6. Slip the tomatoes skins off and place in the seasoned dashi. Marinate in the refrigerator for 1-2 days.