Japanese Miso dressing

Suz and Brad came over two weekends ago to make sushi and miso soup. I had a TON of miso left over, so I found a recipe for miso dressing. It's the closest I've been able to find to that yummy dressing they give you at Japanese Steak Houses.

The recipe says it yields 1 cup, but I think it must yield more.

3/4 c Red Miso (aka akamiso)*
3 Tbls sugar
3 Tbls mirin (Japanese rice wine vinegar)
2 Tbls hot water
2 tps light soy sauce
1/4 tps sesame oil
1 Tbls toasted sesame seeds#

In a small bowl, combine miso and sugar. Add mirin, water, soy sauce, sesame oil, and sesame seeds. Stir until well blended. Serve over iceberg lettuce and carrot slices. Toss to combine.

* there are different kinds of miso, and when they mean red, they mean red, not white or mild or other varieties. It's the brownist miso, and it's also the most flavorful. A little goes a long way! conveniently, the same miso used in miso soup!

# toasting sesame seeds makes them taste delicious, but it's dangerous. They take a really long time to start toasting, and then you have about 30 seconds before they burn. I put them in a (non-stick) skillet and put the heat on medium, tossing the pan and stirring the seeds every minute or so, and prepare the rest of the dressing right next to the stove where I can keep an eye on it. Once you start to smell toastyness and they start to turn brown. You can play chicken with the seeds if you want, and try to get them even more toasted, but I'd rather be safe than sorry.

Results: I think this recipe calls for WAY too much sugar. Next time I'm going to only put 2 Tbls in it. Also, it's really thick, so I add more water. And a little goes a loooong way. I wouldn't pour this dressing on your salad, I'd spoon it on a little at a time and toss it as you go. When I say "toss," I mean put it in a bowl with a lid or a plate on top and really shake it. This is definitely a shaken, not stirred salad dressing. That said, because the dressing is so complex and rich, I'm perfectly happy eating it with nothing but lettuce, which would be really boring with ordinary ranch or italian. I would definitly make this again! I had to buy the sesame oil to make it, and I think I'll enjoy putting that to use, too.