Ginger, carrots, miso, mirin – Engage taste buds and lets go
I like my dressings with salad. I like salad leaves glistening with oil. I dip bread in olive oil for breakfast. The only thing more revolting to me than low fat dressing is low fat yoghurt. But this dressing works for me. Its based on a traditional Japanese dressing that can also be made completely fat free. I prefer unsurprisingly a version with oil – but good oil – here I’ve used hemp oil but flax or sunflower oil is great. Olive il is not a great flavour in this particular dressing tho – avoid.
If you cannot find white Miso then use brown – the sauce wont be quite as bright but it will have that “umami” taste. Failing any miso then blitz up dried porcini or shitajke mushrooms with a little soya sauce. Ive put in quite a lot of substitutes so dont be put off…have a go..its a great dressing.
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp. white miso if you can find it or brown or the powdered mushrooms
- 1 small carrot, peeled and chopped roughly or if you are really lazy, a good quality carrot juice – about 75-100ml but you lose some of the gloopiness.
- 1 piece of ginger approx half the volume of the carrot. I like a very gingery version so I always put a little bit more in.
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 tbsp. honey
- 2 tbsp. mirin (I substitute dry sherry or sweet sherry and no honey)
- 2 tbsp. rice wine vinegar (regular white wine vinegar works pretty well)
- 1 tsp sesame oil (I sometimes have it in the store cupboard and sometimes dont)
- 80ml hemp oil (or sunflower plus the sesame or linseed or cold pressed sunflower) If making fat free then omit
- 20ml water (depending on how gloopy you like your dressings or how thin. Omit if you have used carrot juice)
Notice that the recipe has no salt. The Miso contains the all important “umami” taste and so the dressing works without. However if alas you are a salt freak then go ahead!
How To
Throw all the ingredients into your blender of choice and blend until smooth and creamy.
- 3 tbsp. white miso if you can find it or brown or the powdered mushrooms
- 1 small carrot, peeled and chopped roughly or if you are really lazy, a good quality carrot juice - about 75-100ml but you lose some of the gloopiness.
- 1 piece of ginger approx half the volume of the carrot. I like a very gingery version so I always put a little bit more in.
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 tbsp. honey
- 2 tbsp. mirin (I substitute dry sherry or sweet sherry and no honey)
- 2 tbsp. rice wine vinegar (regular white wine vinegar works pretty well)
- 1 tsp sesame oil (I sometimes have it in the store cupboard and sometimes dont)
- 80ml hemp oil (or sunflower plus the sesame or linseed or cold pressed sunflower) If making fat free then omit
- 20ml water (depending on how gloopy you like your dressings or how thin. Omit if you have used carrot juice)
- Notice that the recipe has no salt. The Miso contains the all important "umami" taste and so the dressing works without. However if alas you are a salt freak then go ahead!
- Throw all the ingredients into your blender of choice and blend until smooth and creamy.