Finadene is a salty, spicy, sour all-purpose condiment used in Chamorro cuisine. It is made of soy sauce

Soy sauce

Soy sauce is a condiment produced by fermenting soybeans with Aspergillus oryzae or Aspergillus sojae molds, along with water and salt...

, vinegar

Vinegar

Vinegar is a liquid substance consisting mainly of acetic acid and water, the acetic acid being produced through the fermentation of ethanol by acetic acid bacteria. Commercial vinegar is produced either by fast or slow fermentation processes. Slow methods generally are used with traditional...

 or lemon juice

Lemon juice

The lemon fruit, from a citrus plant, provides a useful liquid when squeezed. Lemon juice, either in natural strength or concentrated, is sold as a bottled product, usually with the addition of preservatives and a small amount of lemon oil.-Uses:...

, chopped white onion

Onion

The onion , also known as the bulb onion, common onion and garden onion, is the most widely cultivated species of the genus Allium. The genus Allium also contains a number of other species variously referred to as onions and cultivated for food, such as the Japanese bunching onion The onion...

, and fresh chilies. Adding oil and/or water to finadene makes it suitable as an all-purpose marinade. Also a different type of finadene is lemon finadene which substitutes the soy sauce with lemon juice and thus substituting lemon juice for vinegar. Some people add chopped tomatoes to finadene, it is often eaten over red rice.

Recipe

The basic finadene recipe is:

• 2 part soy sauce
• 1 part lemon juice or vinegar
• 1 chopped white onion & or green onion
• chopped boonie peppers (a local fresh chili) to taste
• diced tomato

Mix all the ingredients into a jar and serve.
(Optional)Chill for at least an hour prior to using.

This recipe varies from family to family and changes even further when families move off the island. The base is almost always soy sauce with lemon juice and chopped onion.