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Tired of ranch, balsamic, caesar, honey mustard, thousand island and the like😒? If you’re looking for something new to liven up your salads, be they cold or hot, you’ve come to the right place! All the recipes you’ll find below are fairly straightforward and hassle-free. And while we do provide exact measurements for most of the ingredients called for, you can definitely get away with eyeballing everything so long as your proportions aren’t too far off😉.
1. Roe-Citrus Dressing
Sort of like a mentaiko situation, where roe is used to season the sauce, but with the surfeiting creaminess replaced by a refreshing zing. If you are wondering why the recipe calls for the zest of a lemon but the juice of oranges...well...this just yields the best result from our experience. Don’t judge, don’t question, just follow😑!
4g lemon zest
120g orange juice
as desired honey (can be substituted with castor sugar)
Yield: approx. 150g
1) Wearing a glove, mix zest and roe together, breaking up about half to three-quarters of the roe.
2) Mix in orange juice.
3) Stir in 5g of honey vigorously, adding more little by little (tasting as you go) till the flavour is to your liking.
2. A Vinaigrette of Sorts
We really have no idea what to call this since it’s sort of like a vinaigrette yet...not. Whatever it is, this dressing is really something else🎉! And yes, the wasabi here refers to the fake stuff you get in a tube, not the actual stem that will bleed your wallet dry.
240g sauvignon blanc
10g acacia/clover honey (you may need more depending on your taste)
15g apple cider/pomelo vinegar
as desired salt
as desired wasabi
Yield: approx. 150g
1) Bring wine to a boil and simmer till volume is halved.
2) Leave wine to cool at room temperature before chilling for at least 30min.
3) Mix remaining ingredients together until homogenous.
4) Mix in 20g of wine to loosen the mixture before stirring in the remainder.
3. Classic Thai Salad Dressing(s)
Just cos’ it’s a classic, doesn’t mean it’s basic! This flavour bomb is going to get you addicted - we guarantee it. If you’re having a light salad, the base recipe would work just fine👌. But if you’re introducing any proteins (especially grilled ones) to the mix, have a go at one of the spicy variants below🥵!
~base~
20g palm sugar (can be substituted with honey)
as desired fish sauce (start with about 25g)
as desired lime juice (start with about 20g)
Yield: approx. 70g
1) Unless your palm sugar is pre-ground, shave and chop it into tiny chunks.
2) Add and stir in remaining ingredients, tasting and making adjustments till the flavour is to your liking.
~variant 1~
1 fresh red chili
1 clove garlic
2g salt
1) Remove seeds from chili.
2) Pound all ingredients together. (alternatively, chop and mince with a knife, then smear the tiny chunks against the chopping board, using the salt to abrade and break down the chili and garlic)
3) Stir enough of chili-garlic mixture into base to suit your taste.
~variant 2~
10g rice (uncooked)
8g dried chili flakes/chili powder
1) Toast rice in a dry pan till richly browned.
2) Pound/blend rice to a fine powder and mix with chili.
3)Stir enough of chili-rice mix into base to suit your taste.
4. Gado-Gado Dressing (aka Spicy Peanut Sauce)
There are innumerable ways to make this thanks to the regional variations across Indonesia and abroad. To keep things simple though, our recipe does not call for coconut milk or boiling of the sauce🤗. That said, this is still the most complex dressing on the list - don’t mess it up!
1 kaffir lime leaf
as desired fresh red chili
18g coconut/palm sugar
3 cloves garlic
80g raw peanuts
as desired belacan (dried shrimp paste; 1-2g aka 0.5 teaspoon would do)
as desired salt (about 3g would do)
7g kicap manis (sweet dark soy sauce)
12g tamarind juice (optional)
5g lime juice (optional)
as desired water
Yield: approx. 180g
1) Remove stem from lime leaf, remove seeds from chili and, unless it is pre-ground, shave and chop sugar into tiny chunks.
2) Shallow-fry belacan, garlic, chili and peanuts over medium heat.
3) Remove belacan after 1min, garlic after 3-4min (it should not be darker than light golden), and chili and peanuts when peanuts are richly browned, which should be done at the 6-9th minute. (refrain from moving the belacan around too vigorously when frying lest it breaks into tiny pieces which would be difficult to fish out)
4) Blend/pound all ingredients except kicap manis, tamarind juice and water together until a thick paste forms.
5) Blend/mix in remaining ingredients, ensuring that enough water is added for the final product to have the viscosity of ketchup (add a small amount of it to begin with and gradually work your way up; there’s no turning back if you add too much water...unless you want to reduce the sauce by boiling or settling for a thinner consistency).
5. Saffron Aioli
We don’t know about you but this, to us, is definitely a recipe to be made only for special occasions (like when you get a pay raise). If you are going to have a go at this luxurious creaminess, do not, for the sake of your wallet and sanity, let your saffron get blown away by the wind or spill the vinegar😬!
1 large pinch saffron (or however much or little you want/can bear to use)
40g egg yolks (2)
10g sea salt
400g grapeseed oil
Yield: 473g
1) Bring vinegar to a boil and pour over saffron.
2) Let vinegar mixture cool at room temperature for 1h, then chill for 2h.
3) Blend/whisk vinegar mixture, yolks and salt until homogenous and slightly airy.
4) Blend/whisk mixture constantly while gradually adding in oil till emulsified. (the final product should have the viscosity of mayonnaise; if it is too loose, continue blending/whisking till you reach the desired consistency)