White Miso Dressing

This traditional Japanese white miso dressing (sumiso) is a building-block sauce you’ll find across classic preparations like nuta-ae, nasu karashi sumiso-ae, and kinome-ae.

Shiro miso gets cooked down with sake and sugar until the alcohol burns off and the flavors concentrate into a thick, glossy paste. The real technique comes at the end: beating in egg yolks one at a time off heat, then immediately shocking the pan in ice water. That rapid cooling sets the yolks without scrambling them, giving the dressing a rich, creamy body.

The 30-minute simmer is doing important work. It mellows the raw, salty edge of the miso and lets the sugar fully dissolve and caramelize slightly, creating a smoother, rounder sweetness. Stir occasionally to prevent scorching on the bottom.

Chef Tips

• Have your ice water bath ready before you start beating in the yolks. Speed is everything here. Hesitate and you’ll end up with bits of cooked egg in your dressing.
• Stir the miso mixture more frequently toward the end of the simmer as it thickens. It scorches easily once most of the liquid has cooked off.
• This dressing keeps well refrigerated for up to a week. Bring it to room temperature before using, as it stiffens when cold.

Variations

• Add a teaspoon of hot karashi mustard for a spicy version (karashi sumiso).
• Thin with rice vinegar for a lighter vinaigrette-style dressing over steamed vegetables.
• Stir in finely minced kinome (sansho pepper leaves) for the classic kinome-ae preparation.