Marinated Cherry Tomatoes Two Ways

My Marinated Cherry Tomatoes contains no oil and no herbs. The marinade is made of typical Japanese ingredients to give the tomatoes a subtle authentic flavour. I have included two marinades in today’s recipe – Yuzu Honey Marinade and Shiro Dashi Marinade.

I experimented with two marinades intending to pick one for the post, but I decided to include both of them in my recipe because I liked both and they’re so easy to make.

To add colour to a dish, I sometimes put a couple of fresh cherry tomatoes on the side of the main dishes or mix them into green salads.  But today’s dish, Marinated Cherry Tomatoes, is a stand-alone side dish or a finger food for cocktail parties. The colours are so attractive!

What’s in My Marinated Cherry Tomatoes Two Ways

You only need cherry/mini tomatoes and a few ingredients for the marinades.

• Red cherry tomatoes
• Greenish red cherry tomatoes
• Yellow cherry tomatoes

I used 3 different colours of cherry tomatoes, but a single colour or two colours will work well too. I wanted all the tomatoes to be similar sizes, but unfortunately the yellow tomatoes were a bit smaller, and they were oval shaped.

Yuzu Honey Marinade

• Yuzu juice
• Honey

I bought a small bottle of 100% yuzu juice at a Japanese Grocery store. You can buy it at Asian grocery stores too. Yuzu is an aromatic citrus fruit with a tart flavour. If you can’t find yuzu juice, you can substitute yuzu juice with a mixture of lemon juice and a small amount of grapefruit juice.

Shiro Dashi Marinade

• Shiro dashi
• Water (optional)

Depending on how concentrated your shiro dashi is, you will need to dilute it with water so that the flavour will not be too salty.

Two kinds of shiro dashi – both require 7 parts water to make a standard noodle broth.

I did not add water to my shiro dashi because it was condensed to ⅓ of standard broth, i.e., you need to add 3 parts water to 1 part shiro dashi to make a noodle broth. If you are using shiro dashi that is more condensed such as ¼ and 1/7, you should add a small amount of water to make the marinade less salty.

How to Make Marinated Cherry Tomatoes Two Ways

The most critical thing in this recipe is to peel the skin off your tomatoes without breaking them or making them mushy. When you boil tomatoes, the skin comes off easily. Since they are mini tomatoes, you only need to boil for 10-15 seconds to peel the skin.

1. Mix the marinade ingredients in a zip lock bag.
2. Make a shallow incision on the surface of each tomato.
3. Boil the tomatoes for 10-15 seconds, then transfer the tomatoes to a bowl filled with ice water to quickly cool them down.
4. Peel the skin off the tomatoes.
5. Put the peeled tomatoes into the bag with marinade, seal and marinate for ½-1 day.

I made a long vertical incision around each tomato, so that the skin comes off almost by itself when boiled. But you don’t have to make an end-to-end incision like I did. You may need to peel the skin from the opening if the incision is shorter, but it’s still a very easy task.

Serving Ideas of Marinated Cherry Tomatoes

There are many ways of serving Marinated Cherry Tomatoes.

If you are serving it as a side dish, you can simply put the tomatoes and a small amount of marinade in a serving bowl. You may want to put a few small parsley sprigs on to decorate it.

Marinated Cherry Tomatoes is great as a finger food or a canape, particularly when you use a few different coloured tomatoes.

Put a couple of tomatoes per serving on a canape spoon, with a small sprig of parsley or micro parsley in the centre.

Instead of using a canape spoon, you can put a couple of tomatoes on a long toothpick. This is a perfect way of serving Marinated Cherry Tomatoes for a large number of people.

Yumiko

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Marinated Cherry Tomatoes Two Ways

Prep Time

10 mins

Cook Time

1 min

Marinating Time

4 hrs

Total Time

4 hrs 11 mins

 

My Marinated Cherry Tomatoes contain no oil and no herbs. I used Japanese ingredients in the marinade to give a subtle authentic flavour to the tomatoes. I have two marinades to show you – Yuzu Honey Marinade and Shiro Dashi Marinade.

Don't forget to see the section 'MEAL IDEAS' below the recipe card! It gives you a list of dishes that I have already posted and this recipe that can make up a complete meal. I hope it is of help to you.

Recipe Type: Appetiser, Side

Cuisine: Japanese

Keyword: Cherry Tomato Recipe, Marinated Cherry Tomatoes, Marinated Tomatoes, Mini Tomato Recipe

Serves: 4 as a side

Author: Yumiko

Ingredients (tbsp=15ml, cup=250ml)

• 8 red cherry tomatoes (note 1)
• 8 greenish red mini tomatoes (note 1)
• 8 yellow mini tomatoes (note 1)

Yuzu Honey Marinade (note 2)

• 2 tsp yuzu juice (note 3)
• 1 tsp honey

Shiro Dashi Marinade (note 2)

• 1 tbsp shiro dashi (note 4)
• Water (note 4)

Instructions

Yuzu Honey Marinade

1. Microwave honey in a small microwave-safe bowl for 5 seconds to make it watery, then let it cool to room temperature.

2. Put the honey and yuzu juice into a zip lock bag, shake and mix well.

Shiro Dashi Marinade

1. Put shiro dashi and water (if required per note 3) in a zip lock bag and shake to mix well.

Preparing Tomatoes

1. Place your knife on the top of a tomato and make a shallow incision along the surface of the tomato towards the stem end. You only need to cut the skin, so try not to cut the flesh. Do the same to the other side from the top (note 5).

2. Bring water in a saucepan to boil and put the tomatoes into the boiling water.

3. Boil for 10-15 seconds, then transfer the tomatoes to a bowl filled with ice water to quickly cool them down.

4. Take one tomato at a time, peel the skin off the flesh starting from where the incision is. Put the peeled tomato on a new bowl or a plate.

Marinating Tomatoes

1. Put 12 mini tomatoes (I picked 4 of each colour) into the bag of Yuzu-flavoured Marinade, remove the air as much as possible, then seal the bag.
2. Put the remaining 12 mini tomatoes into the bag of shiro dashi Marinade, remove the air as much as possible, then seal the bag.
3. Put the bags in the fridge for at least 4 hours up to 1 day. Turn the bags over a couple of times.

Serving

1. If you are serving marinated cherry tomatoes as a side, simply place the tomatoes and a small amount of marinade in a serving bowl.
2. If you are serving the marinated tomatoes as a finger food or an appetiser, you can put a couple of tomatoes on a long toothpick or place a couple of tomatoes on a canape spoon. Adding a small parsley leaf on the tomatoes makes it pretty and attractive too.

Recipe Notes

1. I had three different colours of tomatoes, but you can use just 1 colour or 2 colours. My mini tomatoes were about 3cm in diameter and the total weight of 24 mini tomatoes was 320g/0.7lb.

2. The quantity of each marinade is just right for 12 mini tomatoes. You need to adjust the quantity accordingly depending on the number of tomatoes you will be marinating.

3. If you can't find yuzu juice, you can substitute yuzu juice with a mixture of lemon juice and a small amount of grapefruit juice.

4. The concentration rate of shiro dashi varies depending on the brand. My shiro dashi required 3 parts water to 1 part shiro dashi to make a standard noodle broth (x3 concentration). Some brands of shiro dashi srequire 4 parts water (x4) or even 7 parts (x7) water to make a standard broth.

If the concentration rate of your shiro dashi is higher, requiring more water to make a standard broth, you will need to add a small amount of water to make the marinade slightly thinner.

In the case of x4 concentration, add about just over ½ teaspoon of water. If it is x7 concentration, mix ½ tablespoon each of shiro dashi and water.

5. I made a long incision, almost all around the tomato, so that peeling becomes very easy, and the skin almost slides off the flesh. But you can make a shorter incision, in which case the skin will not slide off and you will need to use your fingers to peel the skin off.

6. Nutrition per serving as a side with Yuzu Honey Marinade.

serving: 88g calories: 26kcal fat: 0.2g (0%) saturated fat: 0g (0%) trans fat: 0.0g polyunsaturated fat: 0.1g monounsaturated fat: 0g cholesterol: 0mg (0%) sodium: 4.2mg (0%) carbohydrates: 6.4g (2%) dietary fibre: 1.1g (4%) sugar: 5.1g protein: 0.8g vitamin D: 0mcg (0%) calcium: 9mg (1%) iron: 0.3mg (1%) potassium: 198mg (4%)