Carrot Ginger Dressing Recipe

Carrot Ginger Dressing is the dressing used in many Japanese restaurants in the US.  The more American the restaurants are, the more likely they use this dressing for their salad, it seems.  We have never seen the Carrot Ginger dressing in restaurants in Japan, so this must be an American thing. Where this originally came from is a little unclear, but it is said that some Japanese steak house restaurants started serving or something.  Even though this may not be very authentic Japanese food, still the bright orange dressing is quite tasty and we would like to include it in our Japanese recipes.

Carrot Ginger Dressing is very easy to make; just mix grated carrots and ginger with seasonings and oil.  You could throw everything in a food processor, and your job is done… but not so fast people!  That could work if you don’t have time, but if you do have time, please grate vegetables on a fine grater.  The texture in your mouth (“mouth feel”) is so much softer and smoother if you grate them instead of using a food processor.  The salad itself could be anything.  Iceberg lettuce works very well with the dressing, but we used it on finely shredded cabbage and sliced cucumber.

You can adjust the amount of ginger.  If you like it spicy, add more.  Also, it is a very chunky dressing, and you may want to add more vinegar and oil to loosen it.  We like it to be like this.  It is almost like eating salad with more salad, very healthy and nutritious.  Try it, it’s good!