Miso-Sesame Vinaigrette That’s Good on Anything
- Total Time
- 5 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
- 2medium garlic cloves, smashed with the side of a knife
- 1small shallot, roughly chopped
- 2tablespoons shoyu or tamari
- 2tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 2tablespoons red or white wine vinegar
- 1tablespoon light miso paste
- 1tablespoon dark brown sugar
- ½cup grapeseed, vegetable or canola oil
- 2tablespoons toasted sesame oil
- 2tablespoons toasted white or black sesame seeds
Preparation
- Step 1
Combine garlic, shallot, shoyu, vinegars, miso and sugar in a blender and blend on high speed until homogenous. (Alternatively, mash garlic and shallots in the bowl of a large granite or marble mortar and pestle into a fine paste using the pestle, then stir in the shoyu, vinegars, miso and sugar.)
- Step 2
With the blender running on medium speed (the liquid should form a vortex but not jump up and splatter on the walls of the blender), slowly drizzle in the grapeseed oil. (If using a mortar and pestle, slowly drizzle in the oil as you stir vigorously with the pestle.)
- Step 3
Transfer to a lidded jar. Stir in the sesame oil and sesame seeds with a spoon. Dressing can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks. Shake well before using.
Private Notes
Cooking Notes
Made this without a blender (used a micro plane for the shallot and garlic) and a whisk to combine the liquids. I was a bit skeptical of the balsamic fitting in with the other more traditionally Asian flavors but it turned out fabulous. Drizzled this over some roasted salmon and it was absolutely delicious. Looking forward to trying this in other dishes!
Spiked with a bit of fresh ginger I had lying around. Don’t know how well it will keep but it is delicious over carrots and cucumbers!
Made it as soon as I saw the article. Absolutely delicious! Thank you Kenji. I love you.
Though balsamic is an Italian vinegar, it's a reasonable substitute for a dark vinegar that is commonly used in Chinese cooking (and possibly other Asian cuisines), e.g. as dipping sauce for dumplings.
Try making the dressing with everything except the garlic, then adding the smashed cloves to the finished product. They'll infuse the dressing with their flavor but it won't be so intense.
Made this exactly as specified, except I added the sesame seed oil to taste at the end, which for me was about two teaspoons. The toasted sesame seeds provide plenty of sesame flavor. It is absolutely delicious. Also, to the reader who indicated that the oil and other ingredients would separate after time, my thick emulsion has remained emulsified. I think the miso must prevent it from separating like ordinary salad dressing. So it is worth the step of adding the oil gradually.
The quantities listed here don't work for a vitamix. Blades don't get covered, so the sauce splatters around at all speeds -- no vortex as mentioned. Because of this the garlic doesnt blend and I had a huge mess while trying to add the oil in. Next time I will use a food processor or do it by hand.
This is phenomenal as a cold soba noodle salad dressing, with cucumbers, edamame and orange segments! Substituted some microplaned red onion for shallot, and whisked by hand; can’t wait to make again!
Absolutely love this dressing with fresh ginger added. The only change that I would make is to halve the amount of sugar put in because it was a little bit too sweet for my taste.
The recipe has all ingredients I love, but the garlic in the finished product was just too biting for salad dressing. I ended up using as a marinade for chuck steak which is sous viding now. I may try with roasted garlic next time because I still think I will love it.
I’m not a fan of oily dressings so I opted for brown rice vinegar and cut the oil in half. I opted for a shot of ginger. I don’t get the slow drizzle part. This isn’t mayonnaise. It’s going to separate anyway. I just added the oils and gave it a whir. America’s Test Kitchen has a creamless, creamy version that is delicious and easy, especially if you have a Vitamix, although any good blender should do the trick.
Phenomenal. Hits the spot. Added a tiny bit of ginger. It’s delicious as salad dressing and for crudité, cabbage and carrots, chicken, by itself on a spoon…
Delicious on book choy and spinach too.
Yes, this is good. I inadvertently omitted the brown sugar and I thought the sauce was perfect without it. Served over simply grilled salmon. I also added some to the salad and anything else on the plate that night.
Absolutely delicious, reminds me of one of my favorite dressings from Sweetgreen, but even better. I microplaned the shallot and garlic into a mason jar and then added everything else except the oils and sesame seeds. Shake vigorously. Then add the oils and shake again. Add seeds last. Perfection. I used Zhenjiang vinegar instead of balsamic and for the white vinegar, I used 1 Tbl. of rice wine vinegar and 1 Tbl. of white wine vinegar. Kenji never misses!
Delicious and always available in the frig!
An absolute hit! Followed the recipe and turned out delicious. Used a food processor instead of a blender.
Perhaps because I used my mini food processor the emulsion was super thick. Tasty but next time will whisk by hand.
I didn't rate this because I used so many substitutes, I can't claim to have actually made the recipe. That being said, it's a great template for a miso sesame dressing. Even with not quite the right vinegars, onion instead of shallot and low-rent vegetable oil, it was delicious. I did add some grated ginger and was very happy about it.
Made this for a salad with mango, avocado, English cucumbers, and mint. Delicious.
This recipe slaps. I normally make substitutions to reduce or substitute sugar and oils to make it “healthier” but I will always follow Kenji’s recipes to a T and I’m glad I did. Definitely worth making this dressing recipe, even though it looks intimidating with so many ingredients.
add ginger
Made this in a jar. Used garlic press. Omitted shallots as I'm not an onion fan. Just shook everything together. This was fast, easy and fantastic. Will try with ginger next time but fab without it.
For anyone who needs to make this soy-free, we used san-j "soy" sauce and replaced the miso with 1/4 teaspoon of fish sauce (you could use more if you'd like). Tasted close to the original!
Oh yes, almost forgot - like others, I also used chinese black vinegar instead of balsamic, and grated some fresh ginger into it too, for bite. Sooo so good.
I used Chinese black vinegar instead of balsamic and added a 1” knob of grated ginger to Step 1. Finally! A dressing that avoids the vinegar sharpness that makes most others unpleasant. I wonder how Chinese sesame paste would be in place of some of the sesame oil? Next time…
So ridiculously good! I made it in a 4 cup measuring cup with my immersion blender on its lowest speed. - worked like a charm - and add the sesame seeds to taste once the dressing was doled out.
Used 1 tsp honey instead of sugar, only 1 clove garlic & 1 T sesame oil. Still absolutely yummy on a big tossed green salad with chopped egg and avocado, flaked cooked coho salmon, roasted pumpkin seeds.
I found it to be way too sweet for a salad dressing, and the garlic is too biting. But I think it will be very good marinade.
Made this vinaigrette but left out the sesame oil and seeds (seriously dislike those flavors), and it was delicious! Definitely trying the addition of ginger next time per so many comments. Also thinking this could be an incredible marinade for pork chops or chicken thighs.
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