Miso-sesame vinaigrette, good on almost anything
The jar in the fridge door you reach for without thinking.
At a Glance
Story
A dressing you build yourself beats anything bottled for one reason, which is that you control the order, and order is the whole game here. Coax the neutral oil into the miso and vinegars first, with the blade running, until it thickens and turns creamy. Then, and not a moment sooner, stir the sesame oil and seeds in by hand, well away from the blade. Blitz them and you flog every last note of toast out of them, and the toast was the entire reason you invited them.
Ingredients
- 2 cloves garlicsmashed
- 1 small shallotroughly chopped
- 2 tbsp shoyu or tamari
- 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 2 tbsp red or white wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp light miso paste
- 1 tbsp dark brown sugar
- ½ cup grapeseed or other neutral oil
- 2 tbsp toasted sesame oil
- 2 tbsp toasted white or black sesame seeds
Method
Miso does the heavy lifting a bottled dressing never could, that deep savoury hum that makes people ask what is in it. Make the full jar, it keeps three weeks and only gets better.
- Combine the garlic, shallot, shoyu, both vinegars, miso and brown sugar in a blender and run it on high until completely smooth. No blender? A mortar and pestle and a strong arm will pound the garlic and shallot to a paste, then you stir the liquids in after.
- With the blender on medium, and the liquid pulled into a tidy little vortex rather than climbing the walls, drizzle in the neutral oil in a thin thread until it thickens and turns glossy.
- Pour into a jar with a lid. Now stir in the sesame oil and the sesame seeds with a spoon, by hand. This is the step people skip and regret. Chill up to three weeks and shake hard before every pour, because it will separate and that is exactly as it should be.
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