Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Ginger dressing: a recipe

Ginger dressing
I love sushi.

One of the best things about living in Southern California (when we did) was that there were at least eight bajillion good sushi restaurants within a two-block radius of wherever you were standing.

I'm nearly not kidding.

I miss sushi.

Up here in Vermont, it's a bit different, as you can well imagine. We've discovered one passable sushi place in downtown Burlington, but that's it. (If you can recommend another, please leave a comment below!)

Again, I miss sushi.

This also means that I don't get my fix of that ubiquitous yummy ginger salad dressing that every sushi restaurant serves on its side salad of iceberg lettuce and shredded carrots.

I found a similar bottled dressing a few years ago, but it's not quite the same -- a little too chunky. And I don't like being dependent on bottled dressing anyway, so I decided to explore making my own.

Of course, there are quite a few recipes for "famous Japanese restaurant-style ginger salad dressing" (go ahead, Google it for yourself, I'll wait). The one I chose to use as a baseline for my adaptation had an ingredient list that seemed to correspond pretty closely to the bottled version (without the additives), plus it called for blending, which I figured would eliminate the chunkiness.


Verdict (after a few tries)? A big hit!

Just the right blend of sweet and tangy with no chunks. It is especially good on a simple spinach salad. And I'd be willing to bet it would make a great marinade for grilled chicken, too.


Now I just need to find some good sushi to go with it.

Ginger Salad Dressing (adapted from allrecipes.com)

Ingredients: 
1/4 cup minced onion
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1 heaping tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
1 1/2 tablespoons celery, minced
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2-3 teaspoons low-sodium soy sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper

Directions:
Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Using an immersion blender, blend until smooth.


7 comments:

  1. Fantastic- thank you so much! I miss great sushi too- there was plenty just near us in Sydney. Now that we're over in London, it's harder to find. I think this dressing is going to save me.

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  2. Tori, I'm just jealous that you live in London -- my favorite city! If you try the dressing, please consider posting a comment on how it turned out for you or if you make any modifications. Thanks!

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  3. I can't comment about the dressing, but the pictures are fantastic!!

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  4. Oh, this looks super good. I love the dressing, but I almost always skip getting a salad at a sushi place because a.) iceberg and carrots = not a real salad and b.) HELLO MORE ROOM FOR SUSHI.

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  5. This looks just like my recipe, except I sub miso for the tomato paste, and it turns out just as good (if not better) than any I've had in restaurants. I may try the tomato paste, since it's something I'm more likely to have on-hand at a given moment. Thanks!

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  6. @Kristen: b) is a really, really good point!!

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  7. I loved Ginger Salad Dressing, and it was so easy to make, I did not have fresh ginger[ store is 30 miles away] and used power and it came out very good, will use fresh next time. Thank you again

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