That orange Japanese salad dressing.

You know, the orange gingery dressing that comes on the complimentary salad you (sometimes) get when you order sushi. What’s it called? And more importantly, how can I make it?

Topsecretrecipes.com has a good version based on the one you get at Benihana.

It also works well as a marinade for chicken on the grill.

Basically, it’s rice vinegar; ketchup; minced ginger; oil; salt, pepper, minced celery and some peanut butter blended well. I usually add some sesame oil.

As to what it’s called, I haven’t the foggiest, as every Japanese person I know says it’s an American thing, but I’d welcome opinions from the Dopers resident in Japan.

From here:
Japanese Steakhouse Ginger Salad Dressing CopyCat Shogun Steak
[ul]1/2 cup minced onions
1/2 cup peanut oil
1/3 cup rice vinegar
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
2 tablespoons minced celery
2 tablespoons ketchup
4 teaspoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper[/ul]
Blend.

If it doesn’t have sesame oil in it, it’s probably not a Japanese dressing.

Okay, that’s not strictly true, but the one you describe is not one that I associate as being “Japanese.” It sounds more like Kraft’s take on French dressing than anything else.

There’s a brand here in California called Red Shell that makes the dressing I associate with Japanese restaurants–a kind of mayonnaisey creamy dressing with a hint of miso.

Funny, my favorite Japanese restaurant in New York’s used a salad dressing that both fits the description of the OP and tasted an awful lot like French dressing with a slight Japanese flair.

I’ve had a really tasty miso dressing at Japanese restaurants before.

I’d always liked the salad dressing at Kojii’s at The Block At Orange. Turns out it’s basically mayonaise and light soy sauce.

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I’m going to show you a recipe I learned in Mod school.

Thread moved to Cafe Society.

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