Japanese Salads

[specialteach]

Does anyone have a recipe for the ginger dressing that many Japanese restaurants in the US serve on their basic salads?

Or know a brand of bottled dressing that is available in the US?

[Brad S]

I make mine with fresh ginger root,carrot juice,sesame oil a touch of honey,rice wine vinegar salt and white pepper.Then I use my immursion blender on it.You can also use a little peanut oil with the sesame oil.

My wife buys one from Trader Joes which is very good.

[alanamoana]

most local asian markets have bottled dressings in many different varieties. most of them are "asian" in spirit so i'm sure you'll find a ginger dressing. you could also take one of the bottled dressings with a nice sesame/soy base and add freshly grated ginger to it...doctor it up yourself.

[torakris]

I was trying a while back to replicate that dressing and I never did get it right!

I rember the first time I came to Japan in 1990, I was determined to find out how they made that dressing, the thing was every restaurant I went into only served thousand island dressing! I swear I felt like it was the only dressing in the country at that time. No one knew what I was talking about when I asked about the ginger dressing........

[smallworld]

I have three recipes on an old recipe card of mine. Can't remember where they came from and I think I've never tried them, so I can't guaruntee they'll taste right.

Measurements are American, brackets my own:

Ginger Orange Dressing

Mix the following:

1/4 cup fresh orange juice

4 tsp vegetable oil (I'd use sesame oil)

1 Tbsp minced scallions

1/4 tsp minced garlic

1 tsp grated orange zest

1 tsp grated ginger (this can't be right!! 1 Tbsp sounds more like it)

salt and pepper to taste

Sesame Ginger Dressing

Rub bowl with 1 mashed clove of garlic, discard. Mix the following in the bowl:

1/2 cup mayo (!)

1 Tbsp grated ginger

1Tbsp chopped scallions

1 1/2 tsp soy sauce

1 tsp sesame oil

1/2 tsp Dijon mustard

1/2 tsp honey

Ginger dressing

Mix the following:

1/2 cup soy sauce

2 Tbsp sesame oil

2 Tbsp rice vinegar

1 Tbsp grated ginger

1 Tbsp sake or sherry

1 tsp sugar

This last one sounds about right.

Good luck!

[Gifted Gourmet]

Does anyone have a recipe for the ginger dressing that many Japanese restaurants in the US serve on their basic salads?

This is the dressing I make from Benihana which appeared in "Top Secret Recipes" .. it is pretty good actually .. with a little bite from the ginger .. but it is sweet and oniony ..

1/2 cup minced onion (try to use a mild onion if possible)

1/2 cup peanut oil (or regular vegetable oil is equally nice)

1/3 cup rice vinegar

2 tablespoons water

2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger

2 tablespoons minced celery (may make it a bit watery and it will separate)

2 tablespoons ketchup (really!)

4 teaspoons soy sauce

3 teaspoons sugar

2 teaspoons lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon minced garlic

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon white pepper

Combine all ingredients in a blender.

Blend on high speed for about 30 seconds or until all of the ginger is well-pureed.

Makes 1 3/4 cups.

Edited October 27, 2003 by Gifted Gourmet (log)

[piazzola]

I am sorry but everytime I search for a specific item the search engine throws a lot of stuff on me

I just wanted to know what are the most popular salad dressings in Japan

Thank you

[Hiroyuki]

Wafuu (Japanese-style) dressings such as goma (sesame seed) and aojiso,

french, thousand island, just to name a few.

And of course, mayonnaise! And ponzu!

In general, Japanese prefer low-fat and non-fat dressings.

As for me, I like aojiso dressing the most.

[Hiroyuki]

I found this

http://www.myvoice.co.jp/biz/surveys/7702/

Sorry, Japanese only.

[OnigiriFB]

What is aojiso? I don't think I've heard of that. My rusty japanese can only translate the ao (blue?) part. Is ginger dressing not japanese?

[Hiroyuki]

What is aojiso? I don't think I've heard of that. My rusty japanese can only translate the ao (blue?) part. Is ginger dressing not japanese?

←

Sorry, aojiso means green perilla. And, yes, we have ginger dressing. I also forgot to mention yuzu dressing.

[OnigiriFB]

Thank you. Could you tell me the difference between yuzu and ponzu. I've had ponzu dressing and it's one of my favorites. I get it in a pre-made bottle from the Korean store. It has japanese writing on it so I'm assuming it's a Japanese product. I don't think I've seen yuzu or had yuzo though.

[Kent Wang]

Thank you. Could you tell me the difference between yuzu and ponzu. I've had ponzu dressing and it's one of my favorites. I get it in a pre-made bottle from the Korean store. It has japanese writing on it so I'm assuming it's a Japanese product. I don't think I've seen yuzu or had yuzo though.

←

Yuzu is a citrus that is an essential component of ponzu sauce.

[Hiroyuki]

Thank you. Could you tell me the difference between yuzu and ponzu. I've had ponzu dressing and it's one of my favorites. I get it in a pre-made bottle from the Korean store. It has japanese writing on it so I'm assuming it's a Japanese product. I don't think I've seen yuzu or had yuzo though.

←

Yuzu is a citrus that is an essential component of ponzu sauce.

←

Let me add:

Yuzu dressing is not necessarily sour, but ponzu is always sour. Sometimes, I prefer yuzu dressing, sometimes ponzu, depending on the condition of my stomach .

I also forgot to mention ume (Japanese plum) dressing!

[okinawaChris]

I am sorry but everytime I search for a specific item the search engine throws a lot of stuff on me

I just wanted to know what are the most popular salad dressings in Japan

Thank you

←

This is by far our favorite dressing. A creamy style sesame dressing but at 900 JPY per bottle, it is a bit expensive.

[OnigiriFB]

Wow I guess there are more dressings than I thought I'll definitly keep an eye out on my next trip to the Korean market (we don't have a Japanese one but a lot of Japanese in town shop there). Now I'm curious to try all the other flavors. What does the green perilla taste like?

[Hiroyuki]

What does the green perilla taste like?

←

Hm............ Hard to answer.

In a word, refreshing.

[torakris]

I found this

http://www.myvoice.co.jp/biz/surveys/7702/

Sorry, Japanese only.

←

For those that can't read it here is the list of most popular salad dressing flavors (this was a poll of over 16,000 people mostly aged in their 20's to 40's)

1. wafuu (Japanese style)- Sesame seed flavor

2. wafuu - Aojiso (shiso or perilla) flavor

3. wafuu - soy sauce flavor

4. tartar sauce

5. chukka (Chinese style) dressing

6. French dressing (in Japan, French dressing is white not like the orange stuff in the states)

7. wafuu- oroshi (with grated daikon radish)

8. Italian dressing

9. 1000 Islands dressing

10. citrus based dressing

11. ethnic style dressings

12. others

13. no response

Other interesting points in the survey was that 35% of those polled said they used salad dressing 2 to 3 times a week, with 15% using it 4 to 5 times a wekks and 16% using it only once a week.

Kewpie leads the country in the popularity of its salad dressing with 63% of those polled, the next two companies were tied with only 25% each.

[piazzola]

Thank you all

My question turned out to be a rather long thread so I do sincerly thank you

again

[Hiroyuki]

I don't know why, but we didn't have a thread on Japanese salads, so here it is.

Some of my favorites are:

1. Potato salad

2. Macaroni salad

3. Hijiki salad

Needless to say, I like to add a lot of corn in my salads. It's a must in any Japanese salad.

A great tip for making a salad that I learned from my wife is to add 1 tablespoon of sugar and 1 tablespoon of vinegar to a salad, which makes the salad taste better.

Your favorites?

Any tips?

[BarbaraY]

A Japanese restaurant opened in our town about 30 years ago. They had absolutely marvelous food and one of my favorites was a salad of somen and tiny shrimp dressed with a creamy sesame dressing.

About a year or two later they stopped serving it and started serving Shrimp and Cucumber in Sanbaisu dressing.

I love the shrimp and cucumber salad but would love to find out the recipe for the creamy sesame dressing.

The restaurant closed about 15 years ago so I can't ask.

[sanrensho]

Your favorites?

I'll add two of my favorites: daikon salad and yamaimo salad (both cut into matchstick-sized pieces).

[LordBalthazar]

When my wife and I visited Tokyo last year, we ate at a restaurant called Gompachi (twice, actually - once in Ginza, another time in Odaiba) and had a terrific spinach salad made with what looked like miniature translucent baby eels. Anybody have any idea what we ate? It was delicious.

[Hiroyuki]

When my wife and I visited Tokyo last year, we ate at a restaurant called Gompachi (twice, actually - once in Ginza, another time in Odaiba) and had a terrific spinach salad made with what looked like miniature translucent baby eels.  Anybody have any idea what we ate?  It was delicious.

←

Maybe shirauo or shirouo?

From torakris's daily nihongo thread:

5/15 and 5/16

白魚　シラウオ　shirauo

素魚　シロウオ shirouo

Though they look and are treated similar they are different fish, shirauo are related to salmon and ayu while the shirouo　are related to the goby.

The shirauo are called ice fish in English and the shirouo are called ice goby or whitebait, though sometimes you will see all the names used interchageably... 

shirouo are a bit shorter at only 6cm, the average length on the shirauo is 10cm.

[Hiroyuki]

A Japanese restaurant opened in our town about 30 years ago. They had absolutely marvelous food and one of my favorites was a salad of somen and tiny shrimp dressed with a creamy sesame dressing.

About a year or two later they stopped serving it and started serving Shrimp and Cucumber in Sanbaisu dressing.

I love the shrimp and cucumber salad but would love to find out the recipe for the creamy sesame dressing.

The restaurant closed about 15 years ago so I can't ask.

←

I found one recipe and tried it today.

Ingredients:

3 tbsp salad oil

2 tbsp vinegar

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp sesame seeds (black or white)

Directions:

1. Toast sesame seeds.

2. Put sesame seeds in a suribachi and grind them.

3. Add vinengar, soy sauce, and salad oil little by little while constantly mixing.

You can add sugar and mayonnaise if you prefer.

from here

http://odn.okwave.jp/kotaeru.php3?q=677355

(Japanese only)

I tried the recipe, but I didn't toast the sesame seeds. I used my Milser (small blender) instead of a suribachi to grind the seeds, and I mixed the oil, vinegar, and soy sauce together in a cup and added the mixture in three parts. The resulting dressing was a little sour for my taste, but I think it's a good starting point. Next time, I'll use less vinegar and more sesame seeds to make the dressing creamier.