Forget Traditional Salad Dressing — Build Yours Around This Japanese Condiment

When it comes to salads, there are myriad combinations of vegetables, fruits, and seeds with which you can build a tasty one. However, some of us might fall into a rut when it comes to the dressing, opting for the same bottle of store-bought stuff every time. If you're ready for something new, try using ponzu sauce as the base of your next homemade salad dressing. 

Ponzu sauce is a Japanese condiment made from fresh citrus juices, soy sauce, rice vinegar, katsuobushi (bonito flakes), and kombu (dried kelp). This light sauce packs an umami punch that enhances everything it touches, and it's lovely as a salad dressing by itself. It also offers lots of possibilities when combined with other ingredients. Basically, use a ponzu-based salad dressing anywhere a citrusy-salty kick is needed.

There are several commercial brands of ponzu sauce available, ready to use in a pinch. But with a little time and effort, you can ensure the flavor is exactly to your liking by making it yourself.

Ponzu sauce is easy to make from scratch, and the recipe is flexible enough that you can tailor it to your taste. You can use any citrus juice or a combination of them — lime, lemon, orange, grapefruit, and, if you can find it, yuzu is perfect. For a vegetarian version, some people use dried mushrooms instead of katsuobushi. Your ponzu sauce should last in a sealed Mason jar in the fridge for one or two months.

To use ponzu in a salad dressing recipe, think of it as part of the salty and tangy components of the dressing, since vinegar, citrus juice, and soy sauce are the main components of ponzu. Therefore, you'll probably need to adjust the amount of salt and citrus juice in the dressing recipe. It might be best to add the ponzu a little at a time, tasting along the way, until the dressing is to your liking. The amount of ponzu sauce to use will depend on your taste, and on the direction you want for the salad dressing.

If you wish to create an Asian-inspired dressing, adding sesame oil, wasabi, crushed garlic, or grated ginger to the ponzu base will do the trick. Pour this over a cold noodle salad, a crisp coleslaw, a grain bowl topped with your favorite vegetables and proteins, or even chicken or tuna salad for a change of pace. It will work beautifully. You can even mix ponzu with mayonnaise to make a creamy dressing to enhance any of these dishes.

Or take it in a different direction with olive oil and mustard to make a vinaigrette, such as this vibrant citrus vinaigrette. Again, add ponzu to taste to make sure the salty and sour ingredients are in balance. Using ponzu in your salad dressing recipe is sure to crank the umami factor up to 11.