Japanese Salad Dressing - First Attempt or JSD #1




I have one of those weird kids who adores salad. He especially loves the salad dressing that they serve at one of our favourite local sushi restaurants. It is really light and sweet, has grated apple, carrot and ginger, doesn't appear to have much oil and, unfortunately, I have never been able to replicate it.

Over the years he has come to love the various Japanese dressings we are served in the japanese restaurants we frequent - the weird beige dressing that I think is a sesame seed dressing, the weird orange one that I think is the sesame seed dressing with some ketchup added to it and pretty much any other variation of an asian tasting vinaigrette. This makes my quest a bit easier because I no longer  have to replicate the original beloved dressing to get him to eat a dressed salad. (He used to eat his salads dry in protest)
I have read a million versions of dressings that have ketchup in them and even if I think he will love it, I am not emotionally prepared to go that route yet.

This one combines lots of the elements that I know he likes so this is going to be called "JSD #1"
It makes it sound more like a science experiment and since we watched Planet of the Apes yesterday, I am in that kind of a mood.

He said this dressing was very good despite being much more vinegary than any of the dressings we usually eat but I was assured that it was still really good. He certainly hoovered his salad in record time so I am going to take him at his word. It is a bit on the vinegary side but I agree that it is good and I will use this one as my base and tinker with it so more until we are totally satisfied with it. If any of you make this and you make any changes that you like, please share them with me, okay?

JSD #1

1/2 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup canola oil
1 tbls sesame oil
1 tsp finely grated ginger
1 tbls soy sauce
3 tbls mirin
3 tbls water

3/4 of an apple grated (I did half of the apple super fine- almost mulched and then the rest coarsely grated)
1 small carrot finely grated

1 tbls sesame seeds, ground (I used my fancy Japanese grating bowl but you could use a pestle and mortar or skip the grinding and just throw in the sesame seeds)

Mix the oils and vinegars together. Add the soy sauce, mirin, water and ginger and whisk it or shake it in a jar or whatever you do to make a vinaigrette. Taste at that point, add a pinch of kosher salt and taste again to make sure the taste is okay. Add the apple, carrot and sesame seeds and give it a good stir.



Comments

  1. Yep, simply yummy with salads and thanks for sharing. need to make some as I am always into salads on the days time is such a constraint.

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  2. I too love the dressings at Japanese restaurants, but it's hard to copy it. Yours looks great! I did find one recipe that I like. Also, have you ever heard of Japanese Kewpie Mayo? I think some places may put that in it too :o)

    http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/famous-japanese-restaurant-style-salad-dressing/detail.aspx

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  3. I always have kewpie in the fridge - I will check that out!

    ReplyDelete

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