Goma Dare (ごまだれ, sesame dipping sauce)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Suribachi and surikogi, or a small food processor
• •Small saucepan
• •Mixing bowl
• •Small dipping bowls

Instructions

1. 1

   Warm the seasonings

   Put the mirin, sake, and sugar in a small pan and warm just until the sugar dissolves, about one minute. This takes off the raw edge of the alcohol and helps the sugar disappear evenly into the sauce, instead of sitting grainy against the sesame. Let it cool.

2. 2

   Stir the sesame

   Put the nerigoma in a bowl and stir it until smooth. Sesame paste separates as it rests, with oil on top and dense paste below, so bring it back together before seasoning. If using whole toasted sesame instead, grind it in a suribachi until it turns damp, fragrant, and pasty.

   A suribachi, the ridged Japanese mortar, gives the best texture. A small food processor works, but stop before the sesame becomes hot and oily.
3. 3

   Build the sauce

   Stir the soy sauce and rice vinegar into the sesame paste a little at a time. The paste may tighten at first. That's normal. Add the cooled mirin mixture, then add the dashi by spoonfuls, stirring steadily, until the sauce turns glossy and falls slowly from the spoon.

4. 4

   Adjust the body

   Taste and adjust with salt, then loosen with a little more dashi if needed. For shabu-shabu, it should cling to a slice of beef or a leaf of napa cabbage without sitting like paste. For noodles or tofu, make it a little looser. The method, not the menu, tells you where to stop.

5. 5

   Finish and rest

   Stir in the lightly crushed toasted sesame seeds and let the sauce rest ten minutes before serving. The rest lets the sesame swell and the vinegar settle into the background. Stir once more before pouring it into small dipping bowls.

Chef Tips

• •Use Japanese nerigoma if you can. Tahini is a sensible stand-in, but it often tastes lighter and more bitter, so choose one made only from hulled sesame and stir it very well before measuring.
• •Make the dashi clear and unsalted. The sauce already has soy sauce and salt, and salty dashi makes it heavy before you can correct it.
• •If the sauce splits, don't panic over a bowl of sesame, it has done nothing dramatic enough to deserve that. Put a spoonful of paste in a clean bowl and whisk the split sauce back into it slowly.
• •For a meatless table, use konbu and dried shiitake dashi. That version has its own depth and belongs fully inside the tradition.

Advance Preparation

• •Goma dare keeps three days refrigerated in a covered jar. Stir before using, because sesame thickens and separates as it rests.
• •Make it slightly thicker than you want if preparing ahead. Thin it with a spoonful of dashi just before serving.
• •The dashi can be made two days ahead and kept refrigerated, or the konbu can soak overnight in cold water for a gentler stock.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 70g)