Miso ginger sesame dressing
Units
Temperature
Servings
Ingredients
Dressing
- 150 g carrot, roughly chopped; it is the body of the dressing rounded
- 50 g white miso, shiro miso, the sweet pale kind, not the dark red rounded
- 30 g fresh ginger, peeled, and more than looks sensible rounded
- 60 ml rice vinegar rounded
- 60 ml neutral oil rounded
- 20 ml toasted sesame oil, a small amount, because it dominates quickly rounded
- 60 ml water rounded
- 15 g maple syrup, or a mild honey, which is not vegan rounded
- 1 shallot rounded
Method
Method
- Blend the carrot, ginger, shallot and miso together first, with the vinegar, until as fine as it will go.
- Add both oils and the water and blend again briefly.
- Taste and adjust the honey. Carrots vary a lot in sweetness and this is the only correction it usually needs.
Notes
- Miso instead of soy sauce is the choice that matters. Soy is thin and salty; miso is thick, savoury and slightly sweet, and it emulsifies. It is why the dressing clings instead of running off.
- White miso only. Red and brown misos are far stronger and turn the dressing muddy brown and aggressively salty.
- The carrot is structural. It is not a garnish or a colouring; it is what gives the dressing body without a cup of oil.
- It keeps a week and separates slightly. Shake it.
- For gluten-free, check the miso. Many are made with barley. Rice-based shiro miso is the gluten-free one.
Ingredient substitutions
- White miso is widely available in Germany in Asian shops and increasingly in supermarkets. There is no real substitute; tahini plus a little soy gets somewhere adjacent but is a different dressing.
- Rice vinegar can be cider vinegar at three quarters of the volume, being sharper.