Roasted Sesame Dressing


Date Published: August 16th, 2020 | Last Updated: August 16th, 2020
Author: Abby |Category: sauces, dips, asian, easy
Serves: 1 cup | Prep time: 5 mins | Cook time: 30 secs

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I set out a goal for myself last week: to try and recreate Toby’s beloved Kewpie roasted sesame dressing. I’ve been making a lot of things from scratch lately and thought I’d give this a try. Toby was first introduced to the Kewpie brand of the dressing by our friend Laeticia who brought it to hotpot night. I’ve seen people use a lot of different sauces during hotpot, but this was the first time I saw roasted sesame dressing as a dip! She converted Toby that night and funny story, when the new Asian grocer we had been waiting for months to open near our home last year finally opened, they gave away a small gift with every purchase on their grand opening day – it was a mini bottle of Kewpie dressing! The bottle didn’t last long at all. When we moved to the farm a few months ago, we introduced Kewpie sesame dressing to Toby’s parents and it has since replaced the go-to 1 litre bottle of caesar dressing in the fridge – I think they approve.

Sesame dressing is a very common salad dressing used in Japanese restaurants, often served on top of the small salad in a bento box. It’s creamy, rich and full of sesame flavour. Kewpie or Wafu are one of the more popular brands of roasted sesame dressing you’ll see in the shops. We don’t live near an Asian grocer anymore which is another one of the reasons why I wanted to try and recreate it. Welp, I didn’t achieve my goal, but I did end up making a sauce that’s even stronger in sesame flavour than Kewpie and abandoned the original plan when I decided I liked my version better (sorry, not sorry). The freshly roasted sesame seeds in this recipe really shines through and gives it a deeper sesame flavour than the bottled versions and what’s best is that you can easily tweak the recipe to your own liking if you prefer it more sweet, salty, sour, savoury…etc.

Anyways, without further ado, here’s the recipe! If you have any comments or suggestions, I’d love to hear from you in the comment section! You can follow me on instagram, youtube and facebook to see all the recipes I post!

Happy cooking!

Ingredients you’ll need:

  • 4 1/2 Tbsps white sesame seeds
  • 5 Tbsps Kewpie mayonnaise (Japanese whole egg mayonnaise)
  • 2 Tbsps rice wine vinegar
  • 1 1/2 Tbsps soy sauce
  • 2 Tbsps sugar
  • 2 tsp sesame oil
  • 2 tsp mirin
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 1/2 Tbsp neutral oil

Directions:

In a dry skillet on a low-medium heat, toast the sesame seeds until golden brown.

Set aside 1/2 Tbsp of the toasted sesame seeds and grind the rest in a pestle and mortar.

In a bowl, combine all the ingredients and mix: ground sesame seeds, reserved toasted sesame seeds, mayonnaise, rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, mirin, yolks, and oil. Whisk them together until combined. Taste and adjust flavours as needed. Done!

Summarized Recipe:

Roasted Sesame Dressing

Date Published: August 16th, 2020 | Last Updated: August 16th, 2020
Author: Abby |Category: sauces, dips, asian, easy
Serves: 1 cup | Prep time: 5 mins | Cook time: 30 secs

Ingredients:

  • 4 1/2 Tbsps white sesame seeds
  • 5 Tbsps Kewpie mayonnaise (Japanese whole egg mayonnaise)
  • 2 Tbsps rice wine vinegar
  • 1 1/2 Tbsps soy sauce
  • 2 Tbsps sugar
  • 2 tsp sesame oil
  • 2 tsp mirin
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 1/2 Tbsp neutral oil

Directions:

  1. In a dry skillet on a low-medium heat, toast the sesame seeds until golden brown.
  2. Set aside 1/2 Tbsp of the toasted sesame seeds and grind the rest in a pestle and mortar.
  3. In a bowl, combine all the ingredients and mix: ground sesame seeds, reserved toasted sesame seeds, mayonnaise, rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, mirin, yolks, and oil. Whisk them together until combined. Taste and adjust flavours as needed. Done!

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Best French Onion Soup


Date Published: August 16th, 2020 | Last Updated: August 16th, 2020
Author: Abby |Category: soups
Serves: 4-6 | Prep time: 10 mins | Cook time: 1 hour

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I’ve loved French onion soup for as long as I can remember – what’s not to love about caramelized onions and ooey gooey cheese? This soup has been in my recipe box for at least the past decade. In fact, it’s the first soup I can remember ever attempting to make in my mom’s kitchen back in Canada with a couple of friends after school. The results were bang-on but we didn’t know how to work the broiler (and neither did my mom – who uses a broiler in Chinese cooking?) so we didn’t get the classic bubbly cheese on top but it was still sooooo good. It was a long shopping list for us back in the day since none of these ingredients are in my mom’s traditional Chinese cooking arsenal, but now looking back at this ingredient list in preparation for today’s post, I had pretty much everything already in my pantry and picked the herbs from the garden!

This soup is pretty easy to make, but you’ll need a little patience at the start to caramelize the onions. After that, it’s just adding the rest of the ingredients then simmer and done! You can choose to top the soup with a slice of toasted bread or make your own quick chunky croutons by toasting bread cubes in the oven with some olive oil. I prefer croutons because I find it easier to eat when you don’t have to cut through a thick slice of bread and I also don’t have to worry about whether my slice of bread will fit perfectly into the bowl (plus, munching on extra croutons while the soup simmers is always a bonus). The serving size says 4-6, but when I make this soup I always end up having 4 bowls, so realistically it serves me and maybe one other person. 😜

Recipe adapted from AllRecipes.

Anyways, without further ado, here’s the recipe! If you have any comments or suggestions, I’d love to hear from you in the comment section! You can follow me on instagram, youtube and facebook to see all the recipes I post!

Happy cooking!

Ingredients you’ll need:

  • 1/4 cup (55g) butter, unsalted
  • 2 large red onions, sliced
  • 2 large yellow/sweet onions, sliced
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 6 cups (1.5L) low sodium chicken broth – the combination of the chicken and beef broth with the salt needed to caramelize the onions and the rest of the ingredients tend to make this soup on the saltier side so I suggest using low sodium chicken broth in this soup and adding your own salt in at the end to your liking.
  • 1 cup (250ml) beef broth
  • 1/2 cup red wine
  • 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 2 sprigs fresh parsley
  • 2 sprigs fresh thyme leaves (or a pinch of dried thyme)
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • salt & pepper to taste
  • 4-6 thick slices of French or Italian bread
  • A few slices of cheese per bowl
    • A milder tasting cheese is recommended since the soup itself has a very robust flavour and can be salty – ie. Asiago, mozzarella, Gruyere or Swiss. You can do a mix of these cheeses!
    • Tip: If you don’t have any oven-safe bowls, you can use shredded cheese so it melts easier over the hot soup and bread.
  • pinches of paprika for garnish

Directions:

In a medium pot, on medium heat, melt the butter and cook the onion with the salt until they’re caramelized and syrupy – stir frequently and scrape the bottom of the pot so it doesn’t stick and burn. This is the most time-consuming process and takes about half an hour.

Once onions are ready, add into the pot: chicken broth, beef broth, red wine, Worcestershire sauce, parsley, thyme and bay leaf. Simmer on medium heat for 20mins without the lid, stirring occasionally.

While the soup simmers, prepare the bread: toast the bread slices until golden and crispy or alternatively you can make them into croutons by cutting them into cubes, drizzle with a bit of olive oil and toast them in the oven at 180˚C for 10 minutes until golden and crispy.

When soup is ready, remove the herbs and add in the balsamic vinegar. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Spoon the soup into oven-safe bowls and place the crispy toasted bread into each bowl then topped with slices of cheese. Put the soup bowls in the oven and broil on HIGH until the cheese is bubbly and golden brown. Sprinkle some paprika over each bowl and serve. Enjoy!

Summarized Recipe:

Best French Onion Soup

Date Published: August 16th, 2020 | Last Updated: August 16th, 2020
Author: Abby |Category: soups
Serves: 4-6 | Prep time: 10 mins | Cook time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

  • 1/4 cup (55g) butter, unsalted
  • 2 large red onions, sliced
  • 2 large yellow/sweet onions, sliced
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 6 cups (1.5L) low sodium chicken broth
  • 1 cup (250ml) beef broth
  • 1/2 cup red wine
  • 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 2 sprigs fresh parsley
  • 2 sprigs fresh thyme leaves (or a pinch of dried thyme)
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • salt & pepper to taste
  • 4-6 thick slices of French or Italian bread
  • A few slices of cheese per bowl
    • A milder tasting cheese is recommended since the soup itself has a very robust flavour and can be salty – ie. Asiago, mozzarella, Gruyere or Swiss. You can do a mix of these cheeses!
    • Tip: If you don’t have any oven-safe bowls, you can use shredded cheese so it melts easier over the hot soup and bread.
  • pinches of paprika for garnish

Directions:

  1. In a medium pot, on medium heat, melt the butter and cook the onion with the salt until they’re caramelized and syrupy – stir frequently and scrape the bottom of the pot so it doesn’t stick and burn. This is the most time-consuming process and takes about half an hour.
  2. Once onions are ready, add into the pot: chicken broth, beef broth, red wine, Worcestershire sauce, parsley, thyme and bay leaf. Simmer on medium heat for 20mins without the lid, stirring occasionally.
  3. While the soup simmers, prepare the bread: toast the bread slices until golden and crispy or alternatively you can make them into croutons by cutting them into cubes, drizzle with a bit of olive oil and toast them in the oven at 180˚C for 10 minutes until golden and crispy.
  4. When soup is ready, remove the herbs and add in the balsamic vinegar. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
  5. Spoon the soup into oven-safe bowls and place the crispy toasted bread into each bowl then topped with slices of cheese. Put the soup bowls in the oven and broil on HIGH until the cheese is bubbly and golden brown. Sprinkle some paprika over each bowl and serve. Enjoy!

AbbyLeave a comment