Shiokoji Dressing Recipe | Authentic Japanese Style Mizuna Salad

Today, what we’re gonna be doing is making a mizuna salad using shiokoji and some other ingredients like extra virgin olive oil, some champagne vinegar, and some freshly-squeezed lemon juice, and maybe some salt, and a little bit of white pepper.

What is shiokoji?

Shiokoji is fermented rice with salt and adds a natural umami and sweet fermented complexity to everything it touches, either as a shiokoji marinade or as shiokoji Japanese pickles.

Or in this case, a delicious and simple Japanese salad dressing.

Shiokoji is extremely simple to make.

All you need is the kome koji (koji inoculated rice), water, salt and a little bit of time (5-10 days)

Adding shiokoji to your dressing helps it to emulsify. Usually, in a Western dressing, you might use something like traditional Caesar dressing to help the emulsification. Shiokoji does a pretty good job of it.

If you’ve never used shiokoji in your dressing, this could be a good recipe to start with because it has a lot of flavor.

It’ll give you a good idea of what it actually tastes like and what to expect.

Uses of shiokoji

You can use your homemade shiokoji for virtually anything that calls for salt. Almost anything.

Use your best judgment and experiment.

Once you have tried it a few times, you’ll get a feel for the unique, fermented, salty shiokoji flavor and how it can affect both the flavor and texture of your favorite vegetables and meats.

Today, we will be making a salad dressing out of it for a unique and enhanced flavor!

shiokoji dressing – japanese style mizuna salad video

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shiokoji dressing – japanese style mizuna salad

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Ingredients

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• 3 cups Mizuna
• 1 tomato (freshly cut)
• tofu (deep-fried (agedashi tofu))
• 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp champagne vinegar ((to 1/4 cup))
• 1/4 cup Lemon juice (freshly squeezed)
• 1/4 cup shiokoji
• salt and pepper

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Instructions

1. Toss the mizuna, tomato and tofu in a bowl.
2. Put the olive oil, champagne vinegar, lemon juice and shiokoji in a jar.
3. Add salt and pepper to taste.
4. Mix the dressing well.
5. Add some to the salad.

Notes

To mix the dressing properly, use a food processor.

Prefer an Onion-Soy Dressing Instead?

Shiokoji isn’t the only way to dress a mizuna salad. A savory onion-based dressing swaps in soy sauce, rice vinegar, and mirin for a saltier profile rounded out with a touch of honey and lemon. Blend 1 small onion, 1/4 cup olive oil, 1/4 cup soy sauce, 3 tbsp rice vinegar, 2 tbsp mirin, 1 tbsp lemon juice, 1 tsp honey, and a pinch of 5-peppercorn blend in a food processor until smooth — it keeps in the fridge for future salads. Build the mizuna base with avocado, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, and crumbled walnuts instead of tomato and tofu for a heartier, crunchier variation.

have you used shiokoji in your japanese recipes or japanese seasonings yet?

lmk in the comments!