Japanese salad dressing recipe

This oil and vinegar salad dressing recipe is a basic template that will work with whatever oils, vinegars, and seasonings you japanese salad dressing recipe on hand. Danilo Alfaro has published more than 800 recipes and tutorials focused on making complicated culinary techniques approachable to home cooks.

Victoria Heydt is a food photographer, stylist, and editor. An Institute of Culinary Education grad, she also develops and tests recipes. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice. Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate. The ratio for vinaigrette is 3-to-1: three parts oil to one part vinegar. This formula will always work, but that doesn’t mean it will be perfect 100 percent of the time. Not every vinegar is the same strength, for one thing.

Making the dressing is a matter of combining the oil and vinegar along with any seasonings and flavorings and physically mixing them up to form a temporary emulsion. Place the oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper in a glass jar. Tighten the lid and shake vigorously for about 10 seconds or until fully combined. Let stand for 30 minutes at room temperature to let the flavors meld. Give the dressing a good whisk immediately before serving. While this vinaigrette recipe calls for white wine vinegar, other kinds of vinegar can add flavor. Red wine vinegar adds excellent flavor, and balsamic is terrific and will take you in a whole different direction.

When experimenting with flavor combinations, be sure to taste and adjust as you go. A good way to taste is by dipping a piece of lettuce in the dressing. Freshly ground black pepper is the best. Those little boxes of pre-ground pepper are 90 percent stale before you even get them home. Store leftover oil and vinegar dressing in a sealed container in the fridge for up to five days. Let come to room temperature and shake well before using.

A squeeze of citrus, like lemon, lime, orange, or blood orange can be a nice addition. Finely chopped fresh herbs like parsley, tarragon, or thyme add fresh flavor. Dried herbs are also good for mixing up the flavor. Anything from dried rosemary to oregano to red pepper flakes works nicely. For a garlic vinaigrette, add one garlic clove finely grated or minced to the mixture. I don’t like this at all. Bottled salad dressing can be convenient but its expensive and often full of salt, sugar, and chemical additives.

Making your own is simple and allows you to customize the seasonings to suit whatever meal you are preparing. 4 cup and can be expanded infinitely for larger salads. It can be made several days ahead and kept in the fridge. Shake all ingredients for your chosen variation together in a tightly-lidded container OR whisk together in a small bowl.

Let stand 10 minutes to rehydrate dried herbs and blend flavors. Shake again then dress salad as desired. Note — I recommend the lemon dressing on spinach. Note — I recommend the Bacon Dressing, Mustard Dressing, and Balsamic Vinaigrette on strong greens such as escarole, curly endive, and dandelion greens. Note — The sweeter version of the mustard dressing is great for a vinegar coleslaw if you discover that you have accidentally gotten one of those occasional cabbages that are a touch on the bitter side. Note — feel free to play with other seasonings, more complex blends, flavored oils, and flavored vinegars.