Japanese🥫 Sauces & condiments

Japanese Carrot-Ginger Dressing

Name: Japanese Carrot-Ginger Dressing
Total time: 10 min
Cuisine: Japanese
Ingredients: 1 small carrot; ~1 tbsp ginger; ½ yellow onion; 1 garlic clove; 2 tbsp miso paste; 1 tbsp honey or agave nectar; ¼ cups rice vinegar; ½ cup neutral oil; a pinch salt; a pinch MSG; ~a pinch black pepper

⏱ 10 min

A simple Japanese carrot-ginger dressing inspired by the side salad dressings served with lunch sets at Japanese restaurants. Made from fresh carrot, ginger, onion, garlic, miso, rice vinegar, and neutral oil, it delivers bright, warming ginger notes balanced with savory miso umami.

Adapted from a video by J. Kenji López-Alt

Japanese Side Salad With Carrot-Ginger Dressing

Watch on YouTube

Ingredients

small carrot1
gingerroughly chopped into chunks~1 tbspest.
yellow onionabout half the weight of the carrot, roughly chopped½
garlic clove1
miso pasteyellow or white miso; red miso also works2 tbsp
honey or agave nectar1 tbsp
rice vinegaruse unseasoned rice vinegar, not seasoned sushi vinegar¼ cups
neutral oilsuch as canola oil; avoid virgin or flavored oils½ cup

Steps

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1
Roughly chop the small carrot and add it to the blender.
2
Peel the ginger by rubbing it with a spoon, cut into chunks, and add to the blender.
3
Roughly chop the yellow onion (about half the weight of the carrot) and add to the blender.
4
Peel the garlic clove and add it to the blender.
5
Add about 2 tablespoons of miso paste (yellow, white, or red; avoid strong fermented types like black miso).
6
Add about 1 tablespoon of honey or agave nectar.
7
Pour in about 1/4 cup of unseasoned rice vinegar.
8
Add about 1/2 cup of neutral oil, such as canola oil.
9
Season with a pinch of salt, a pinch of MSG, and black pepper.
10
Starting on the lowest setting, gradually increase the speed and blend until smooth and well combined.
11
Taste the dressing and adjust the flavors as desired. Add more ginger, garlic, or carrot if preferred, maintaining a good balance between acidity and fat.

Japanese Carrot-Ginger Dressing

Ingredients

Steps

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