This Asian sesame sauce is one of my go-to recipes when I want to give an Asian kick to salads, marinades, noodles, and more. When I used to live in China one of the few dishes I craved was Liang Pi, which are cold noodles tossed in MaJiang. I even have a knock off variation that I make using this dressing! The sauce is super easy to make, only taking a few minutes in a bowl with a whisk.
This recipe is light, with strong sesame flavor. I also add a bit of brightness with the addition of Ponzu, a traditional Japanese dipping sauce made of regular soy sauce and yuzu lemon juice. Instead of grinding down sesame seeds by hand, I use tahini, which although more middle eastern is kind of a cheat to making Asian style sesame sauces.
Asian Sesame Sauce Ingredients
- 4 tbsp Tahini
- 3 tbsp Mayonnaise. I know, it sounds weird, but trust me it adds a great creaminess to the sauce. You can use homemade mayonnaise if you prefer.*
- 1 tbsp Ponzu
- 1 tsp Dark Soy Sauce
- 2 tsp Sugar
- 2 tsp Rice Wine Vinegar, you can use apple cider vinegar as a substitute, although it does change the flavor slightly.
- 1 tsp Fish Sauce
- 1 tsp Sesame Seeds. More or less, adjust for preferred texture. You can also leave this ingredient out if you want the dressing to be 100% smooth.
*I also recommend using Japanese mayonnaise like Kewpie. I have my own Kewpie copycat recipe if you can’t find the real thing.
Where To Use This Asian Sesame Sauce / Dressing?
This dressing or sauce goes great in a variety of dishes. You can use it to make:
- Salads (Like the ever popular Chinese Chicken Salad)
- Cold Sesame Noodles
- A dip for Crudite
- Marinade for grilled Chicken
- A dip for Hot Pot
In a lot of ways this sauce can be used in place of a traditional Chinese MaJiang which is a sesame dipping sauce. It can also be used like the Japanese Sesame Sauce known as Goma Dare, which is frequently used in Shabu Shabu (Japanese hot pot). While it is far from traditional, I think it is a great way to spruce up a regular sesame sauce.
Normally I’ll give a cuisine to a recipe instead of just saying Asian, but the truth is that many Asian countries use a sesame sauce, like China, Japan, Korea, Tibet, Vietnam, and more. Since my recipe doesn’t follow any of the country specific ones, I am just calling it Asian since that is of course the inspiration.
Asian Sesame Sauce
Equipment
- Whisk
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp Tahini
- 3 tbsp Mayonnaise. I know it sounds weird, but trust me it adds a great creaminess to the sauce.
- 1 tbsp Ponzu
- 1 tsp Dark Soy Sauce
- 2 tsp Sugar
- 2 tsp Rice Wine Vinegar you can use apple cider vinegar as a substitute, although it does change the flavor slightly.
- 1 tsp Fish Sauce
- 1 tsp Sesame Seeds. More or less, adjust for preferred texture. You can also leave this ingredient out if you want the dressing to be 100% smooth.
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to a bowl and mix together with a whisk.
