I’ve made this Japanese sesame dressing (ごまドレッシング / ごまだれ)for a several times, but I always forget how much ingredients to use and I needed to look up online for recipe. So today I’ve decided to blog it.
If you’ve ever traveled / lived in Japan, probably you had tried this Japanese style sesame dressing in any restaurant where offering salad. There are also many different varieties on the market, that you can simply buy one ready-made and dress it on anything you like. But in fact, it’s super easy to make.
You just need a key ingredient – pure sesame paste. You don’t have to buy a Japanese brand, any pure non-seasoned sesame paste can work. In this recipe, I’m using a Chinese brand which is available in the UK oriental grocery store.
I refer to a Japanese recipe which makes about a small jar of quantity. I only need a portion for my salad lunch, so I cut down the quantity to 1/4, which is enough for 80 g salad leaves (for 2 people).
If you pay attention to a ready-made sesame dressing’s ingredients, for example kewpie 深煎りごまドレッシング, they usually use:
食用植物油脂（国内製造）、しょうゆ、砂糖、醸造酢、ごま、しいたけエキス、食塩、卵黄／香辛料抽出物、調味料（アミノ酸）、増粘剤（キサンタンガム）、甘味料（ステビア）
To translate in English,
Edible vegetable oil (manufactured in Japan), soy sauce, sugar, brewed vinegar, sesame, shiitake mushroom extract, salt, egg yolk/spice extract, seasoning (amino acid), thickener (xanthan gum), sweetener (stevia)
So you’ll notice, a homemade Japanese sesame dressing is more runny since you don’t use thickener and egg yolk. And you won’t use flavour enhancer at home either.
Ingredients
Makes: to serve 80g salad leaves
- ½ tbsp pure sesame paste
- ⅔ tbsp (approx. 10 g) sugar
- ⅔ tbsp (approx. 10 g) vinegar
- ½ tbsp olive oil
- ¼ tsp sesame oil
- ½ tsp soy sauce
- ¼ tsp salt
- ⅔ tbsp (approx. 10 g) water
How to Make Japanese Sesame Dressing
Mix the above ingredients until smooth. Dress them on a bed of fresh and beautiful salad leaves or as a dipping sauce for vegetable sticks.
More Salad and Dressing Recipes
- All-Purpose Yogurt Mint Sauce
- Beet and Clementine Salad with Greek Yogurt Vinaigrette
- Mayonnaise Sesame Honey Sauce
