Japanese Roasted Sesame Dressing

Author Notes

Since my college days, Japanese roasted sesame salad dressing has been my go-to choice to top salads, stir-fries, and sometimes even mashed potatoes. Specifically, I would get the Kewpie brand sesame dressing, which was tangier, richer, and nuttier than most others.

So when I ran out of Kewpie sesame dressing the other day, instead of heading to the supermarket for a top up, I recreated it at home, which turned out to be surprisingly easy!

All you need is to toast up some white sesame seeds (either in the oven or on a hot pan and give them a gentle pounding until they’re sandy. Then, just mix all the ingredients with the sesame seeds in a bowl. There’s mustard, rice vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, and a touch of sugar, all bound together with a few tablespoons of mayonnaise. (Again, I’m partial towards the Kewpie brand of Japanese mayo.)

I think I got pretty close to the original Kewpie dressing I adore. If anything, I would say that mine tasted just a little more nutty, with an extra kick from the wholegrain mustard. All in all, the dressing was so good I didn’t even bother tossing together a salad; I just dipped my greens straight into the bowl of dressing, and scarfed down each lettuce leaf before the dressing could drip off. —Jun