Salted Plum Dressing

A local restaurant, Zentan, has a salad with a dressing that I really like. The only problem with this dressing is that it has insane ingredients and weird proportions. You can see the full recipe here, but I tried to quarter it and skip the blender step.

Salted Plum Dressing

• ¼ c. or 1 tube salted-plum (ume) paste
• 1/8 c. rice-wine vinegar
• ¼ tsp mirin
• ¼ tsp dashi
• 1/3 tsp to ½ tsp onion oil
• 1½ tbsp sugar
• 1/8 tsp. grated ginger
• dash of sea salt (~1/16th tsp)

Whisk until all ingredients combined. If you want a smoother texture, place in blender and purée until smooth.

Onion Oil

• 1/3 to ½ cup vegetable oil
• ½ cup loosely packed chopped leeks, white part only
• ½ green onion, chopped (1/4 white part, 1/4 green part)
• ¼ medium onion, chopped

In a medium saucepan set over high heat, combine all the ingredients. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Decrease the heat to medium-high and cook for another 5 minutes, then decrease the heat to medium. Cook the mixture for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions and leeks are crispy and brown. Remove the pan from the heat and strain the oil into a bowl through cheesecloth. Discard the solids. Let the oil cool before transferring it to a jar. Keeps in the fridge for up to 1 month (which is good considering the dressing only calls for a little bit of it)