This quick pesto uses shisho instead of traditional basil for a delicious Japanese American twist on a classic sauce. Use it on pasta, as spread on bread, or as a dip with vegetables. It’s also a flavorful condiment on beef, chicken, fish, pork, and grilled veggies.
Ingredients
For sauce: 1 dashi packet from Umami Dashi package ¼ cup sake ¾ cup mirin ½ cup soy sauce
For condiments: Fresh wasabi or ginger for grating 2 Tbsp of finely chopped green onions
Directions
Sauce:
Place the dashi pack, sake, mirin and soy sauce in a small saucepan.
Under medium-low heat, slowly bring to a simmer - do not let the soy mixture boil over and burn.
Turn off heat, and let the sauce cool for at least 5 minutes to set the flavor.
When cool enough to handle, remove the dashi pack from the saucepan.
Mentsuyu can either be used now, or be refrigerated. (Note: this is a concentrated dipping sauce. Unused sauce can be kept for up to a month in a closed glass jar.)
Optional Condiments to prepare at time of serving:
Use the grater provided in the soba gift set
Wash and remove ½” outer skin from either the fresh wasabi or ginger.
Place the grater over your pointer finger and grate 1 tsp per serving of wasabi or ginger into a separate small dish.
Finely chop 2 tbsp of green onions; place with the grated wasabi or ginger dish and set aside.
Serving
The mentsuyu dipping sauce can be used at room temperature or chilled. For one serving, pour ¼ cup mentsuyu dipping sauce and ¼ cup water into one soba cup.
Add optional wasabi or ginger and green onion condiments into each soba cup.
Dip the cooked soba noodles in the sauce, one bite at a time.
