The Cascade Kitchen is a student-run food column that brings you budget-friendly recipes and cooking tips. Check back weekly for something new to try in the kitchen, or if you want to see your own recipe featured next, get started by reaching out to culture@ufvcascade.ca.
In his book The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science, J. Kenji López-Alt blesses us with a masterful dressing that is delicious on virtually anything. Roasted tofu: yes. Chopped fresh veggies: yes. Rice and beans: yes. Instant noodles: yes. This is the perfect addition to a lousy lunch or a dull dinner. Even just a couple of spoons will enhance a savoury breakfast. I like to keep this dressing on hand for such occasions.
My rendition is very similar to López-Alt’s — with a couple of substitutions for more affordable and accessible ingredients — but without a blender because, well, I don’t have one.
Prep Time: 20 minutes.
Ingredients:
2 large garlic cloves, mashed
1/2 red onion, finely diced
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp rice vinegar, or even white vinegar if that’s all you have
1 tbsp light miso paste
1 tbsp maple syrup or brown sugar
1/2 cup vegetable or canola oil
1 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp sesame seeds
Method:
1)Place garlic, red onion, soy sauce, vinegars, miso, and maple syrup in a medium-sized bowl. Whisk together thoroughly.
2)While whisking vigorously, pour 1 tbsp of the vegetable oil into the mixture. Continue to mix quickly for at least 30 seconds to create an emulsion. Continue to pour in a few tablespoons of the oil at a time. Do not stop vigorously whisking the mixture until all of the vegetable oil is mixed with the vinegar mixture. This should all take several minutes. Your arm will be exhausted by this point.
3)Lastly, whisk in the sesame oil and the sesame seeds. Top on whatever needs a kick of flavour. This can stay in the fridge for three weeks.
