Japanese Food Lab |
Dress Up Your Dinner Series
Part 1: Classic Dressings

Yield: 2½ cups

¾ cup soy sauce
½ cup rice wine vinegar
1 ½ teaspoons mirin (sweet Japanese cooking wine)
3-inch square piece kombu seaweed
¼ cup lemon juice (reserve half the squeezed lemon)
1 cup extra virgin olive oil

Combine the soy sauce, vinegar and mirin in a small pot and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Remove from the heat and cool slightly.

Pour the vinegar mixture into a glass jar, and add the kombu, lemon juice and the squeezed half lemon (in order to transfer the lemon oil from the skin into the dressing). Rest the jar in the refrigerator overnight.

Remove the kombu and lemon half and discard. Add the olive oil and shake well before use.

Store refrigerated for up to two weeks.

Yield: ½ cup

½ cup wafū dressing (from above)
½ tablespoon peeled and grated fresh ginger
or
½ tablespoon prepared wasabi paste
or
10 shiso leaves, stems removed and thinly sliced

For the ginger and wasabi variations, simply add to the prepared wafū dressing and shake before serving.

For the shiso variation, soak the sliced shiso in cold water for 10 minutes to remove any bitterness. Pat the leaves dry then mix into the wafū dressing.

Store refrigerated for up to three days.

Yield:1½ cups

½ cup grated carrot
2 tablespoons grated yellow onion
1 tablespoon soy sauce
¼ cup rice wine vinegar
1 teaspoon mirin (sweet Japanese cooking wine)
Pinch of salt
½ cup extra virgin olive oil

In a medium bowl, stir together all of the ingredients, except for the olive oil, with a rubber spatula.

Drizzle the olive oil slowly into the mixture, stirring to combine the dressing. Serve immediately.

Store refrigerated for up to three days.