makes
2 cups
prep
10 minutes
cook
5 minutes
difficulty
Easy
makes
2 cups
serves
preparation
10
minutes
cooking
5
minutes
difficulty
Easy
level
Ingredients
- ½ cup white sesame seeds
- 2 tbsp sake
- 2 tbsp mirin
- 1 tbsp caster sugar
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar
- ¼ cup sesame oil
Instructions
Toast the sesame seeds by placing them in a small dry saucepan over medium heat. Swirl the saucepan to stir until the seeds are golden brown and fragrant then remove from the pan and set aside. Return the saucepan to the heat and add the sake and mirin and bring to the boil, then remove from the heat.
Add the caster sugar to the sesame seeds and grind to a smooth paste (see Note). Add the sake, mirin, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil and 1–2 tbsp cold water and continue to grind to a smooth and creamy sauce.
This sauce can be mixed into other preparations like:
Sesame dressing
Mix the base sesame sauce 3:1:1 with rice vinegar and water (e.g. 3 tbsp sesame sauce with 1 tbsp vinegar and 1 tbsp water).
Sesame mayonnaise
Mix the base sesame sauce 1:1 with Japanese mayonnaise.
Note
• Toasting sesame seeds brings out their flavour and makes them easier to grind, particularly if you're using a Japanese mortar and pestle. You can use an ordinary mortar and pestle instead.
Cook's Notes
Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.
