Mizkan Creamy Golden Sesame Dressing

On my last trip to Tokyo I walked into a restaurant in Shinjuku and ordered lunch. I can’t remember the name of or where exactly the restaurant was as, unlike dinner, I usually would just eat at whatever place I happened to be and felt like eating. And anyway, that was supposed to be my last trip to Tokyo and since I didn’t plan on returning I didn’t bother to take note of the name or location of the restaurant.

On the table was a mini pounder and you placed the roasted sesame seeds into the pounder and grinded them into powder form. As you grind the seeds, the aroma from the roasted seeds would be released. You poured this powder onto your rice or whatever food you fancied. On the table there was quite a large and long bottle of sesame seed dressing. This was for the free-flow fresh cabbage salad. It was the best sesame seed dressing I came across. I refilled my salad twice and almost finished that bottle of dressing. I had actually wanted to ask where I could buy the dressing or whether they would sell the dressing. But since I couldn’t speak Japanese, I didn’t. I have searched for the dressing in Japan and Singapore but nothing resembled it. I suspect the dressing was made in-house.

I have tried several sesame seed dressings that are made in Japan. The one that I like most is Mizkan Kin Gomadare Baisen Arabiki (Mizkan Creamy Golden Sesame Dressing). It is made not from black or white, but golden sesame seed. Golden sesame seeds are high in protein, vitamin E, calcium, and other minerals. They contained large amount of sesamin, which is an antioxidant.

The consistency of this dressing is just nice – not too liquid nor too thick. As there is vinegar in it, there is just a slight sourly taste that goes well with any salad or cutlets. It is available at Cold Storage for $7.90 for a 250ml bottle.

Here is a suggestion. Buy half or one red cabbage from Australia and keep in the refrigerator. They stay fresh and last longer than lettuce. Whenever you feel like eating it, too lazy to stir fry vegetables or need an extra dish, simply cut the cabbage into strips, wash and drain them, pour and mix in generous amount of the dressings and serve - you will have a very appetizing and nutritious dish. If you find the texture of raw red cabbage a bit too chewy, boil them in hot water for a couple of minutes first, let it cool and then pour the dressing.



The purple color in red cabbage comes from a class of pigment molecules called anthocyanins which may provide cancer protection, improve brain function and promote heart health.