Lime sesame dressing

A fresh, light Asian-inspired dressing with lime, fish sauce, sesame and ginger. Perfect for crunchy vegetable salads, noodle salads, or as a flavour booster with grilled chicken, fish or prawns.

Serves: 2–4
Preparation: 10 minutes
Cooking: 0 minutes
Total time: 15–20 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp fresh lime juice
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1½ tbsp neutral oil (sunflower or grapeseed oil)
• ½ tbsp sesame oil (no more, the flavour is strong)
• 1 small shallot
• about 1 cm fresh ginger root
• 1 tbsp finely chopped coriander or mint (optional)

Preparation

• Peel the shallot and finely chop.
• Peel the ginger root thinly and finely grate until you have about 1 tsp grated ginger.
• Finely chop the coriander or mint, if using.

Method

1. Dissolve the sugar in the lime juice
   Put the lime juice in a bowl and add the sugar. Stir until the sugar has completely dissolved.
2. Stir in the fish sauce
   Add the fish sauce and mix well.
3. Add the shallot and ginger
   Add the finely chopped shallot and the grated ginger to the lime mixture and stir through.
4. Whisk in the oils
   First whisk in the neutral oil and then the sesame oil in a thin stream, whisking constantly, until a light, fairly fluid emulsion forms.
5. Let the dressing rest
   Let the dressing rest for 5–10 minutes at room temperature so the flavours can mingle and the raw sharpness of the shallot and ginger softens slightly.
6. Balance the dressing
   Taste the dressing and adjust if needed: too sour → add a few extra drops of neutral oil; too salty → add a few extra drops of lime juice; too sharp (from lime, shallot or ginger) → add a small pinch of extra sugar. Stir well again.
7. Finish and store
   Just before serving, stir the finely chopped coriander or mint through the dressing, if using. Serve straight away, or keep in the fridge until needed and give it another stir.