Miso Salad Dressing

How about enjoying your salad with the rich, umami flavor of miso? Miso Salad Dressing is not only flavorful but also nutritious, making it a perfect choice for anyone looking to try a unique dressing or incorporate more miso into their diet for its health benefits.

Miso Salad Dressing is a Japanese dressing made by mixing miso with vinegar, oil, and other ingredients. The savory umami of the miso, the richness of the oil, and the acidity of the vinegar come together in perfect balance, allowing you to enjoy miso in a completely different way than in miso soup. It is a condiment that highlights the distinctive umami and aroma unique to fermented foods.

Beyond its unique flavor, one of the key benefits of this dressing is that it allows you to fully enjoy the nutritional value of miso. While heating miso can cause it to lose some of its flavor and enzymes, this dressing uses miso without cooking it, so most of its natural components remain intact. It is easy to make by simply mixing the ingredients together, so give this umami-rich, nutritious dressing a try on your salad.

In Japan, miso salad dressing is often made with the following ingredients:

• Miso
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Rice vinegar
• Sugar

As for the miso, any type can be used, but richer varieties, such as rice miso or red miso, are especially recommended. If you use white miso, the dressing tends to be slightly sweeter, so you might want to reduce the amount of sugar or omit it altogether.

Extra virgin olive oil is preferred because it pairs well with miso, and their flavors complement each other without overpowering one another. You can substitute it with a mild-flavored oil.

For variations, it is also common in Japan to add grated ginger, grated garlic, toasted sesame seeds, or ground black pepper. My recipe includes black pepper, but you can experiment with other ingredients to suit your taste while still achieving a delicious result.

Let's take a closer look at the nutritional value and health benefits of miso.

Miso, the key ingredient that defines the flavor of this dressing, is made by fermenting soybeans and is rich in protein, vitamins, and minerals. In particular, the beneficial bacteria produced during fermentation are believed to improve gut health, and since a large part of the human immune system is located in the gut, miso is thought to contribute to overall health. In Japan, there is even a saying that goes, 'Miso keeps the doctor away' (meaning that miso is so healthy it could put doctors out of business).

It has long been a staple of Japanese cuisine and is considered one of the factors behind Japan’s long and healthy life expectancy. So, it is well worth incorporating into your daily meals. Because miso salad dressing uses miso without heating it, you can fully reap its health benefits. Enjoy your salad in a healthy and delicious way with this umami-rich dressing.

Miso salad dressing generally pairs well with any vegetables commonly used in salads. In particular, due to its umami-rich and savory flavor, it works especially well with vegetables that have natural sweetness or bitterness, such as:

• Lettuce
• Tomatoes
• Cucumbers
• Broccoli
• Baby greens
• Carrots
• Cabbage
• Daikon radish
• Celery

If you are not sure which vegetables to use in your salad, start by trying these. You might also have fun experimenting with vegetables from your own region.

Ingredients

Instructions

Step 1
Combine all the ingredients (miso, water, extra virgin olive oil, rice vinegar, sugar, and ground black pepper) in a bowl and mix well until the miso is fully dissolved and the mixture is emulsified.

To store

You can store it in a clean, airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Keep in mind that it doesn't last as long as other homemade dressings because water is used to dissolve miso.