Mushiyasai no karashi-gomazu-dare / steamed vegetables with mustard sesame vinegar sauce

This spicy and nutty sauce is great with any vegetable. Tom likes to use it in a number of ways, including as a condiment for sausages and as a replacement for Western mustard on sandwiches.

1/4 of recipe  (sauce only): 
18 calories; 0.7 g protein; 1.4 g fat; 0.9 g carbohydrate; 0.7 g net carbs; 41 mg sodium (with 50% reduced-sodium soy sauce; 80 mg with regular soy sauce); 0 mg cholesterol; 0.2 g fiber


<Ingredients>

Assortment of vegetables (Rose Finn potatoes, carrot, broccoli and cauliflower in photo)

For karashi-gomazu-dare sauce
(Serves 4)
1 tsp tahini
1 tsp rice vinegar (kurozu brown rice vinegar in photo)
1 tsp soy sauce (50% reduced-sodium soy sauce in photo)
1/2 tsp karashi Japanese mustard
1/4 tsp water (to mix with karashi; not in photo)
1/8 tsp sesame oil (not in photo)


<Directions>
1.

Cut vegetables as necessary.

2.

Steam vegetables.
Here, first steam potatoes and carrot until soft, about 10 minutes.

3.

Prepare sauce.
Add water to karashi, and mix well.

In a container, put tahini, soy sauce and rice vinegar, and microwave for 10-20 seconds, until tahini softens.

Mix well.

Add karashi, mix, add sesame oil, and mix well again. 

4.

When potatoes are soft (a bamboo skewer or toothpick smoothly goes in), add remaining vegetables, and steam for 1-2 more minutes.

5.

Remove vegetables from steamer, and serve with sauce.

<Notes>

• Vegetables can be microwaved or grilled.
• Vegetables can be served hot, room temperature or slightly cold.
• Do not heat up karashi + water mixture with other ingredients, as it would damage karashi's taste and aroma.
• The sauce is pretty strong as is; loosen it with dashi or sake if desired.
• The sesame oil in the sauce is optional. It adds aroma and a slightly rich taste.
• Karashi powder contains no sodium, while paste in tubes does have sodium.
• To make this simpler, try a combination of rice vinegar, tahini, soy sauce and rayu hot oil. 
• Tobanjan or other chili sauce can be used as well, but they would add sodium.

(Last updated: January 24, 2014)