Japanese seafood salad and dressing

Posted by spots (Singapore, Singapore) on 11 June 2006 in Food & Cuisine and Portfolio.

f you're looking for a salad that's easy to do but fancy enough to bring to a party, this might just be it! It's made of nice-looking greens, shrimp roe, fresh Japanese seaweed, and surimi (mock crab meat). The bright orange shrimp roe gives the dish a certain amount of "glamour", while the fresh Japanese seaweed (the bright green kind that is only slightly thinner than the green jelly in chendol) provides an interesting chewy surprise for those expecting boring tasteless greens. All ingredients were bought at Cold Storage, prepared and ready to be used. So it was just a matter of mixing everything together - such a cinch!

For the dressing, I used Annabel Karmel's Japanese Salad Dressing, which consists of 4 heaped tb creme fraiche, 1tb soya sauce, 1/2ts finely-chopped ginger, 2ts sugar, and 2tb rice wine vinegar. Just blend in a blender/grinder till smooth. Absolutely yums! The dressing is apparently based on the salad dressing served at a chain of American Japanese restaurants called Benihana. It's got the right balance of creamy, salty, and sweet to complement the seafood in the salad. Enjoy!