Yuzu Dressing

Light and tangy with a hint of ginger, this aromatic Yuzu dressing recipe is intensely invigorating. The savoury, zesty flavours are a refreshing choice to amp up your garden salads or use as a dipping yuzu sauce for noodle dishes.

Why You’ll Love Our Yuzu Dressing

This yuzu dressing is one I make often. 

I adore how it combines the bright and zesty notes of yuzu with the savoury and umami richness of tamari. The result is a perfectly balanced dressing that tantalises your taste buds.

Together with grated ginger, the unique aroma of yuzu adds something extra to this Asian vinaigrette. 

Yuzu salad dressing is incredibly versatile and can elevate a wide range of dishes, including salads like our salmon sashimi salad, noodle bowls, rice dishes, and even grilled meats and seafood. I also like to use it as dipping yuzu sauce which is great with soba noodles or somen. 

So if you are planning ahead for meals, our yuzu dressing is one you can make a double batch!

So What is Yuzu?

Yuzu is a citrus fruit similar to a small grapefruit. It originated in China but is now widely used in Japanese and Korean cooking. 

The outside of yuzu is lumpy and the flesh inside is tart and contains numerous seeds. Yuzu is rarely eaten as a fruit but is used frequently like a lemon for its rind and juice.

Due to its limited availability outside of its native regions, yuzu is often found in the form of juice, zest, or yuzu-infused products.

What Does Yuzu Taste Like?

There are good reasons why yuzu is a popular ingredient in many different dishes and products.

Yuzu has a distinctive and complex flavour profile, combining elements of lemon, mandarin, and grapefruit. 

When I first tasted yuzu juice, the citrusy acidic flavours similar to lemon came through first, but then you get a hit of subtle aromatic floral notes and slight bitterness as well. 

Yuzu’s unique taste and fragrance make it popular for salad dressings, vinaigrettes, marinades, sauces, desserts, and even cocktails. 

You can purchase bottled yuzu juice online or in Japanese and Korean grocery stores. Another yuzu product that can be used in salad dressings like our Prawn and Fennel salad is yuzu jam or marmalade.

Ingredients

Here are the ingredients you will need for yuzu dressing:

• Yuzu Juice: Yuzu juice can be found online or in your specialty Japanese or Korean supermarkets. If you have a well stocked larger grocery store, you should be able to find it there too.

• Ginger: Grated ginger adds another layer of flavour.

• Tamari: Nothing quite like a deep flavoured tamari for a gluten free dressing. If you’ve never used tamari before you can try San-j Organic Tamari or Kikkoman Gluten Free Tamari.

• Sesame Oil: Sesame oil is such a fragrant ingredient to cook with. Adding a dash to your stir fry makes a really big difference to its taste. Hence we’re adding it to this recipe for some serious Asian flavours. One of the more generic brands you can get your hands on is Lee Kum Kee Pure Sesame Oil.

Variations and Substitutions

Yuzu juice substitute: If you can’t find yuzu juice, lemon or lime juice will work as a substitute. The flavours will not be exactly the same, but the end result will be a savoury citrus vinaigrette. 

Tamari substitute: If you don’t need a gluten free dressing, substitute tamari for light soy sauce.

Instructions

Peel the ginger and grate it finely.

Add tamari, water, yuzu juice, grated ginger and sesame oil together in a small bowl or mason jar.

Whisk or shake until well combined.

How to Store

I like to make this yuzu dressing in a mason jar, so I can easily store any leftover in the fridge. It will keep for up to a week. 

Give the dressing a shake before using it again.

Best Salad for This Dressing

Vegan Soba Noodle Salad with Yuzu Dressing

Earthy tones of shimeji mushrooms and soba noodles with the added freshness from the cucumber, seaweed and tangy yuzu dressing, this Vegan Soba Noodle Salad needs no sides. A perfect meal for one, for two or for the whole gang!