My Japanese Table. Debra Samuels
teaspoons Sriracha sauce or spicy chili oil (or more, to taste)
2 teaspoons sesame oil
2 teaspoons soy sauce, preferably low sodium
Combine the ingredients in a mixing bowl and whisk together. Store in airtight container in the refrigerator.
Wasabi Soy Sauce Dressing
This is a tasty, spicy dressing that is great over simply cooked vegetables like asparagus, fiddlehead ferns, or broccoli. This recipe calls for powdered wasabi, but you can use wasabi paste instead. Dilute in a little bit of water and add to the soy sauce.
Makes 1/4 cup (65 ml)
1-2 teaspoons wasabi powder
2 teaspoons water
1/4 cup (65 ml) soy sauce, preferably low sodium
Add the wasabi powder and water to a small bowl and mix well. Add the soy sauce and mix again. Store the mixture in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Tofu Dressing Shiro-ae
This seasoned, mashed tofu dressing adds protein to a simple bowl of steamed or boiled vegetables, such as spinach, green beans, or carrots. Tofu is highly perishable, so use it within 1 or 2 days. Silken or soft to medium soft tofu is best, but you can use a firm tofu.
Makes 2 cups (500 ml)
1 block of soft or silken tofu
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds or 1/4 cup (25 g) toasted walnuts
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 Place the tofu on a plate and microwave for 30 seconds. Drain the water from the plate.
2 Place the sesame seeds or walnuts in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse several times.
3 Add the tofu, sugar, and salt. Process until smooth.
Akiko's Sesame Seed Dressing
Akiko Nakajima, a neighbor, took me under her wing and introduced me to the daily life of a suburban Japanese family. The term multi-task might have been invented for her. Her rat-a-tat speech and physical speed were hard to keep up with. She showed me all sorts of time saving short cuts in the kitchen. A jar of Akiko’s Sesame Seed Dressing has been in my fridge for 32 years—ever since she taught me how to make it. I use it on steamed vegetables, as a salad dressing, or on steamed fish. The coarsely ground roasted sesame seeds provide a nutty taste and texture. I learned to make it by grinding the seeds in a suribachi, a pottery bowl with grooves. But these days I often make quick work of it in the food processor. Nakajima-san would be proud!
Makes 1 cup (250 ml)
1/2 cup (125 g) white sesame seeds, toasted
2 cloves garlic, minced (optional)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (125 ml) canola oil
1/4 cup (65 ml) soy sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
1 Place the toasted sesame seeds in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse 3 times until the aroma is released.
2 Add the remaining ingredients and process for 30 seconds or until the desired consistency is achieved. Store in an airtight jar in the refrigerator. This will keep for several weeks.
Odagiri Sensei's Sanbaizu Vinegar Dressing
This sanbaizu recipe is from my cooking teacher, Odagiri Sensei. Sanbaizu is a classic dressing used often in the vinegary sunomono, which is a part of almost every meal in Japan. "San" means "three," so Sanbaizu means “vinegar plus 3 other ingredients.” Soy sauce, Dashi (Fish Stock), and mirin are the three ingredients in this dressing. A few tablespoons of this dressing transforms a plate of sliced cucumbers, crabmeat, or steamed chicken into a delicious salad.
Odagiri Sensei always added a few more ingredients to make it special. A piece of kelp (kombu) is added to release natural glutamates into the dressing and one pickled plum (umeboshi) contributes a sour tone. These elements are called “hidden flavors” or kakushiaji. (In order to test our taste buds, Odagiri Sensei used to ask us “Can you tell what is in this dressing?” A trained palate would recognize the combination of flavors in this sauce.)
Makes 1/2 cup (80 ml)
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce, preferably low sodium
1 tablespoon Dashi (Fish Stock) (p. 35)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon mirin
1 pickled plum, (umeboshi) (optional)
One 2 in (5 cm) piece of kelp (kombu)
Mix the vinegar, soy sauce, Dashi (Fish Stock), lemon juice, mirin and pickled plum if using, in a small bowl. Add the kelp to the bowl and let sit for 20 minutes. Remove and discard the kelp and pickled plum.
Crunchy Cucumber Pickles
My friend, Atsuko Fish, made these quick, simple, and crunchy cucumber pickles (shiozuke). Their refreshing taste is a great accompaniment to a Japanese meal.
6 mini cucumbers or one English cucumber
1 1/2 tablespoons sea salt or kosher salt
Dash of sake
Dash of soy sauce, preferably low sodium
1 Wash and dry the cucumbers. If you are using an English cucumber, slice it in half lengthwise and then scoop out and discard the seeds with the tip of a spoon.
2 Rub each cucumber with about 1 teaspoon of the salt and set it in a bowl.
3 Leave the cucumbers in the bowl for about 30 minutes. Remove from the bowl and squeeze any liquid from the cucumbers.
4 Set the cucumbers on a cutting board. Cut in half lengthwise again and then slice into 1/2 -inch (1.25 cm) pieces. Mix with a sprinkle of sake and soy sauce before serving.
Simple Mixed Pickles Tsukemono
Every Japanese meal is accompanied or completed by crunchy pickles (tsukemono) to either enhance the appetite or aid in digestion. Daikon radishes, eggplant, cucumbers, turnips, and Chinese (Napa) cabbage are popular choices. I used to see, in my friends’ kitchens, deep plastic boxes with tops outfitted with what looked like a giant screw with a disc attached. Large heads of Chinese (Napa) cabbage sliced in quarters and salted were placed under the disc. After four turns the disc pressed down upon the cabbage to squeeze the liquid from the vegetable. This is a simple salted pickle (shiozuke) and is the easiest to make. Other styles of pickling can be done with vinegar (suzuke), burying vegetables in rice bran, (nukazuke) and rubbing vegetables with miso (misozuke). the famous sour salted pickled plum (umeboshi) is consumed almost daily.
Although many people used to make their own pickles, and some still do, the high quality of mass-produced tsukemono has reduced that number. However some do contain food coloring and additives. Making your own shiozuke is a snap. For this recipe instead of making one type of vegetable I use a mélange of vegetables. The vegetables are cut into similar sizes and salted to remove excess water. For extra color, I like to use the rotund red radishes or slender French red radishes. Cut the vegetables into similar lengths not only for the aesthetic, but it makes it easier to pick them up with chopsticks.
Makes approximate 4 cups (1 liter)
1/2 head (12 oz-1 lb/375-500 g) Chinese (Napa) cabbage cut into 2 in (5 cm) pieces
1 large carrot, peeled and cut into 1 x1/4 in logs (2.5 cm x 6 mm)
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