You are going to love this incredibly versatile Japanese sesame sauce, known as goma dare (胡麻だれ). This sesame sauce is creamy with a nutty and slightly sweet flavour. It's delicious on almost everything. And it's so easy to make it fresh at home in just minutes.
This sauce makes a delicious salad dressing, the perfect dipping sauce for dumplings and skewers, an amazing sauce for meats, fish, or vegetables, and it's great on noodles, too!
If you love sesame flavour, I also highly recommend that you try Japanese persimmon tofu salad for a beautiful autumn dish.
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Ingredients
- White sesame seeds (not toasted)
- Japanese mayonnaise - Unlike American mayonnaise, which uses whole eggs, this mayonnaise uses only egg yolks to give it a delightful rich and custardy mouth feel. It also uses a beautiful blend of vinegars (such as rice, apple cider, red wine, and distilled) rather than just white vinegar.
- Soy sauce
- White miso paste
- Sugar
- Unseasoned rice wine vinegar - Also known as rice vinegar, it is made from fermented rice and has a flavour that is sweet and acidic.
- Sesame oil (not toasted)
- Sake - An inexpensive drinking sake is better to use than cooking sake, because cooking sake contains additional salt.
See the recipe card below for quantities.
Substitutions
- Sake - The sake in this recipe can be substituted for an equal amount of dry sherry. If you prefer to avoid alcohol, you can use a mixture of one part rice wine vinegar to three parts water.
- Rice wine vinegar - Substitute with an equal amount of white wine vinegar plus ¼ tsp of sugar.
Variations
- Extra creamy - Add more Japanese mayonnaise if you would like to make this sauce extra thick and creamy. I don't recommend to do this if you are using the sauce as a salad dressing.
- Ginger or Garlic - Try adding in a tiny bit of freshly grated ginger or garlic for an extra flavour kick.
- Toasted - You can swap the sesame oil in this recipe for toasted sesame oil if you prefer.
- Smooth - Grind the sesame seeds down into a powder if you want your sauce to be smooth with no visible sesame pieces.
Instructions
Use a mortar and pestle or a food processor to grind up the sesame seeds.
Then whisk all of the sauce ingredients together in a bowl.
It's that easy!
Equipment
To make this recipe you will need the following:
- Mortar and pestle or suribachi and surikogi or food processor
- Whisk
How do you use it
There are so many uses for sesame sauce! Here are some of them:
- Salad dressing
- Dipping sauce for dumplings, grilled skewers, and shabu shabu (Japanese hot pot)
- Dressing for proteins: chicken, pork, beef, seafood, tofu
- Dressing for cooked vegetables: green beans, broccoli, spinach, cauliflower, asparagus
- Dip for raw vegetables
- Dip for sashimi
- Dressing for warm or chilled noodles: udon, soba, ramen
- Dressing for poke bowls
- Spread for burgers or sandwiches
Storage
Store leftover Japanese sesame sauce in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week. Give it a good stir before using.
Tip for Success
Don't buy pre-ground sesame seeds - you won't get the same fresh flavour.
FAQ
This sauce can be made gluten free. Just make sure to use gluten free versions of white miso paste and soy sauce.
📖 Recipe
Japanese Sesame Sauce (Goma Dare)
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: 1 cup 1x
- Category: Sauce
- Cuisine: Japanese
Description
A delicious and versatile Japanese sesame sauce that has a creamy, nutty, and slightly sweet flavour that you will love. It's amazing on almost anything. And it's so easy to make!
Ingredients
½ cup (70g) white sesame seeds (not toasted)
4 tablespoons Japanese mayonnaise
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons soy sauce
4 teaspoons white miso paste
1 tablespoon unseasoned rice wine vinegar
2 teaspoons sesame oil (not toasted)
2 teaspoons sake
Instructions
Use a mortar and pestle or a food processor to grind up the sesame seeds.
Then whisk all of the sauce ingredients together in a bowl.
Equipment
Notes
- The sake in this recipe can be substituted for an equal amount of dry sherry. If you prefer to avoid alcohol, you can use a mixture of one part rice wine vinegar to three parts water.
- This recipe makes about a cup of sauce (237ml), or four servings as a dipping sauce.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 4 tbsp
- Calories: 180
- Sugar: 9.5 g
- Sodium: 761.3 mg
- Fat: 21.6 g
- Carbohydrates: 16.8 g
- Protein: 4.8 g
- Cholesterol: 20 mg
Keywords: sesame sauce
Sam says
I had sesame dressing at a Japanese restaurant and had to try making it at home. This recipe was so good! Will make it again.
Asha says
Yay! I'm happy you loved it. I do too.
Kate says
This is great
Asha says
Thanks!
Melissa says
Best.Dressing.Ever
Asha says
Thanks!
Lorraine says
Thanks for this. It's really good.
Asha says
Thank you! 🙂
Joy says
Sooo good on dumplings.
Asha says
Thank you. Now I'm craving dumplings with sesame sauce!
Iva says
So, so, so love the flavour of this sesame sauce on salad.
Asha says
Thank you, I love it too!
Meg says
This has got to be my favourite dressing yet.
Asha says
Thank you!
Emie says
Definitely keeping this gem in my recipe file. Thank you!
Asha says
Thanks for the review!
Seung Ah says
Best homemade sesame sause I ever had. Made to go with dumplings. Saving this recipe.
Asha says
Thanks, glad you liked it!
Bernice says
So easy to make. I love it.
Asha says
Thank you!
Faye says
Awesome. Love this sauce.
Asha says
Thank you!
Grace says
This sauce is amazingly good on chicken stir fry. Excited to try it in other dishes also.
Asha says
Thanks Grace, yes it's so multipurpose that it's amazing!
Evie says
I made this sauce for a chicken and pasta dish. Totally delicious.
Asha says
Sounds great. Glad you liked it!
Gaven says
Yes, oh yes, I love this sauce.
Asha says
Thanks!
Tina says
Love this recipe for sesame sauce. Put it on chicken with pasta. Tastes amazing.
Asha says
Thank you! That sounds like a delicious combo