Benihanna Japanese Style Salad Dressing

by Jenn @ Frugal Upstate on April 17, 2009

Have you ever been to one of those expensive, hibachi style Japanese steakhouses? We took Princess to one last Friday in honor of both of our birthdays.

At the beginning of the meal we were given a salad made from some plain lettuce with a bit of onion and carrot. Sounds bland, but the dressing they pour on top is so good you would eat cardboard if it was drenched in it.

It made me remember: “Hey! I have a copykat recipe for that!”

Now this is a little more complex than most of my recipes, with little bits of lots of ingredients, but it isn’t really HARD. If you do any kind of Asian cooking, you are likely to have 99% of the ingredients on hand.

Benihana Japanese Style Salad Dressing

1/2C Minced Onion
1/2C Peanut Oil
1/3C Rice Vinegar
2TBS Water
2TBS Minced Fresh Ginger
2TBS Minced Celery

2TBS Ketchup

4tsp Soy Sauce

2tsp Sugar (can sub 1 packet splenda or equal)

2tsp Lemon Juice

1/2tsp Minced Garlic

1/2tsp Salt

1/4tsp Black Pepper

Combine all ingredients in blender & blend on high for 30 seconds. That’s it.

Due to the fresh vegetables this dressing does have a shelf life. I keep mine in the fridge for about a week.

Do you have a favorite homemade dressing recipe?

Photo by Foodnut.

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{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }

Amanda @ Mrs.W's Kitchen April 17, 2009 at 5:56 am

Thanks for posting this, Jenn. My husband LOVES that dressing and I know he’ll appreciate it if I make a batch.

I have a fantastic salad dressing that we love, and since you have some yummy fresh maple syrup you might enjoy this:

Maple-Balsamic Vinaigrette

Mix equal portions of maple syrup, extra-virgin olive (or your favorite) oil and balsamic vinegar (buy the cheap stuff for this).

It’s good on any salad, but my favorite is a mix of greens with tomato, chopped apple or pear, a handful of raisins or dried cranberries and a light shaving of blue cheese. Blue cheese can be pricey, but if you freeze your wedge and finely grate (while frozen) over your salad, you actually use very little; the cheese can go back into the freezer and be used again and again.

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Anonymous April 17, 2009 at 11:29 am

I love this dressing too. Has anyone tried freezing it? Maybe do it in icecube trays so you can have a small amount to defrost and use.

Ted

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Amiyrah April 17, 2009 at 10:16 pm

I love the hibachi steakhouses! That’s where we go when we want to “treat” ourselves to a dinner out. The one we go to has that dressing and another one called “creamy ginger.” We love the latter! I’ve made it before but it’s always great to have the original :o )

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Robin ~ PENSIEVE April 18, 2009 at 6:07 am

MMMMmmm, I LOVE that dressing (and it's been years since I've been close enough to Benihanna, so yaaaeee for the recipe!).

My favorite is very simple:

1/4 cup of EVOO
2 Tbls of Balsamic Vinegar
2 Tbls of sugar
generous shakes of seasoned pepper & garlic salt
8-10 drops of hot sauce

Shake vigorously and serve!!

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Heather@justdoingmybest April 18, 2009 at 8:39 am

Dh will be so pleased that I found this. Our Benihana’s went out of business and I know he loves this dressing.

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Anonymous April 20, 2009 at 11:08 am

Thank you for the wonderful recipe. I have found that several of the Japanese Steakhouses in the Chicago area will not share recipes.

The one I want most is for the Golden Sauce used on the Golden Shrimp. Or the brown dipping sauce they have for shrimp on the side at Kampai.

So far, I’ve had no luck. I’m definately going to try this one though. Thanks!

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Jenn @ Frugal Upstate April 24, 2009 at 8:25 pm

Glad so many of you like this recipe. It really is yummers.

And Robyn, I’ll have to try yours. . my mom makes something similar,but without the hotsauce etc.

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