Edamame and Avocado Salad with a Sesame, Ginger and Dashi Dressing
My new go to dressing full of delicious umami flavour!
I am sure many of you are familiar with the delicious Japanese dish agedashi Tofu. Rich deep fried tofu served in the most amazing broth. Whilst the tofu turned out to be a little bit of a challenge to get right, the broth was super easy and so so good. A perfect mix of mirin, soy and dashi. I was amazed how simple it was to make considering it tastes so complex.
I loved the agedashi broth so much I thought I'd attempt to turn it into a thicker sauce/dressing. I added some ginger and sesame for extra flavour and texture and it worked perfectly. I am sure there are a million Japanese dressing out there similar to this recipe but I had personally never thought to add dashi to a dressing and I think thats what makes it extra yum.
Now what to serve this with......well anything really! But I had some perfectly ripe avocado's on my bench and so became this salad. I added some cucumber for crunch and freshness and edamame beans because I love them and always have them in my freezer. You could add some sushi rice, noodles or tofu to this salad if you wanted to make into into a meal. Also no pressure to try and make this salad look all pretty and styled if you don't want. Just chop everything up, toss through some dressing and done! If you can't find any plant based dashi stock (kombu or shitake) at your local Asian speciality shop you can either skip it or make you own and reduce it down. I haven't tried making my own stock yet but there are heaps of recipes out there.
I hope you love this dressing as much as I do and find endless ways to enjoy it. Watch out too for the agedashi tofu recipe coming soon!
Edamame and Avocado Salad with a Sesame, Ginger and Dashi Dressing
Prep time: 20 minutes
Makes: 4 serves
Dietary Guide: The salad is gluten free (is using tamari) and vegan. For a FODMAP friendly version, see the end of the recipe.
Ingredients
2 tablespoons of good quality mirin
2 tablespoons of soy sauce or tamari
1 tablespoon of sugar
1 tablespoon of sesame oil
1 small knob of ginger, peeled and thinly sliced or grated
1 teaspoon of plant based dashi stock powder (kombu or shitake)*
2 ripe but firm avocado
½ a large cucumber
1 cup of shelled edamame
¼ cup of toasted white sesame seeds
¼ cup of toasted black sesame seeds
1 golden shallot
1 small handful of coriander
*You can buy kombu or shitake dashi stock from major supermarkets and Asian speciality shops. Either works well, I used a teaspoon of each.
Method
For the dressing, place all the ingredients except the sesame oil into a small saucepan. Bring to the boil and then simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool. Add the sesame oil and mix. Store in the fridge until needed.
Bring a small pot of water to the boil and cook the shelled edamame for about 2-3 minutes – don't overcook them, they should be al dente. Let cool before using.
Slice the avocado's into ¼ or more if they are large avocado's. Place the white sesame seeds onto a small side plate and the black sesame seeds onto another side plate. Dip one side of each slice of avocado in the seeds alternating between the black and white seeds. Place the avocado slices (sesame side up) onto a serving plater (see photo for suggestion on how to arrange the avocado).
Slice the cucumber intro rounds and slice the shallot into thin rings. Carefully arrange the edamame and cucumber around the avocado and scatter with the coriander and sliced shallot.
Give the dressing a quick mix just before serving. Drizzle it over the salad or alternately serve it on the side. The salad is best eaten within a few hours.
FODMAP friendly adaptation: Replace the shallot with a handful of thinly sliced spring onions (green part only). It is recommended that people on the FODMAP diet restrict their intake of avocado to ¼ per serve, so use one avocado (assuming your are serving this for four people as suggested). You could add another vegetable to help bulk it out like green beans or wombok. Edamame can usually be tolerated in the amounts but if you know it doesn't agree with your, reduce the amount or omit it all together.
