Homemade Ramen from Scratch (Budget Recipe)
You can make a world-class bowl of ramen at home using ingredients from any grocery store. I spent weeks testing this homemade ramen recipe, and the techniques that separated the…
Every meal at Benihana starts with two dipping sauces. The mustard sauce goes with meat, and this ginger sauce goes with seafood. Benihana published the recipe on their own website, and the whole thing is six ingredients in a food processor.
The original recipe on their website was a larger batch. I halved it to a size that makes sense for a home kitchen, but the ratios are the same. The one thing worth knowing is that the sauce improves after a few hours in the fridge.
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Soy sauce makes up the largest part of this recipe by volume. Kikkoman or any standard Japanese-style soy sauce works well. You don’t want a Chinese dark soy or low-sodium version here.
Seasoned rice vinegar is the one ingredient you need to get right. Seasoned rice vinegar already has sugar and salt added to it. If you accidentally grab unseasoned rice vinegar, the sauce will taste too acidic. You can fix it by adding about a tablespoon of sugar and a pinch of salt, but seasoned is easier.
Ginger should be peeled and sliced thin before it goes into the food processor. Thin slices process more evenly, so you won’t end up with large chunks in the finished sauce.
Onion gets sliced thin for the same reason. Regular yellow onion is what the recipe uses.
Lemon provides both juice and zest. Zest the lemon first, then juice it. A Microplane grater gives you the finest, most even zest.
1. Slice the onion and ginger. You need 2.5 ounces of thinly sliced onion and 1 ounce of thinly sliced, peeled ginger.
2. Zest and juice the lemon. Zest first, then juice. You need the zest from one small lemon and 1.5 tablespoons of juice.
3. Add everything to the food processor. Onion, ginger, lemon juice, lemon zest, 1 cup soy sauce, and half a cup of seasoned rice vinegar. All at once.
4. Pulse until chunky. About 20 to 60 seconds of pulsing. You want a chunky consistency with visible pieces of onion and ginger throughout. If you run the processor continuously, it’ll turn into a smooth liquid, which isn’t what you’re after.
5. Transfer and refrigerate. Pour the sauce into a container and refrigerate for at least a few hours before serving. The sauce is usable right away, but the flavor improves after it sits.
If you’re serving it right away, taste it first. Without time in the fridge, the sauce can lean tart from the raw ginger and onion. A small pinch of sugar takes the edge off. You shouldn’t need much.
Pulse, don’t blend continuously. Running the food processor nonstop turns this into a smooth liquid. Short bursts give you the chunky texture you get at the restaurant.
Store the ginger dipping sauce in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to one week. The sauce is served cold, so there’s no reheating needed. Give it a stir before serving since some separation is normal after sitting.
At Benihana, the ginger sauce is specifically the dipping sauce for seafood. It pairs well with Hibachi Shrimp, but it also works alongside Hibachi Chicken and Hibachi Steak.
Serve it with the Benihana Mustard Dipping Sauce to recreate the full dipping sauce setup you get at the restaurant. Add Benihana Fried Rice and Hibachi Vegetables for a complete meal at home.
No. The ginger dipping sauce and the Benihana ginger salad dressing are two different recipes. The dipping sauce is soy-based with a chunky texture. The salad dressing is oil-based and smooth. They both use ginger, but that’s about where the similarity ends.
You can, but you’ll need to add about a tablespoon of sugar and a pinch of salt to make up for what seasoned rice vinegar already includes. Seasoned is easier because the balance is already there.
Up to one week in an airtight container. The sauce actually tastes better after a day or two, so making it ahead works in your favor.
