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I found your blog on Google while searching for sashimi salad recipes. I tried this and mixed it with some sashimi I got from 99 Ranch here in Los Angeles. So delish! I was surprised how rich and tempting the dressing tasted!
★★★★★
– Esther
It is a fish salad, but I will show you one you can’t stop, won’t stop eating. The fish stays cold until your chopsticks land, the dressing gets built in minutes, and you will wonder why the bottled version ever passed for the real thing.
Sashimi Salad
Recipe Snapshot
- What is it? A plate of chilled sashimi over greens, finished at the table with a homemade soy-and-sesame wafu dressing.
- Flavor profile: Soy umami up top, toasted sesame aroma in the middle, and a faint sashimi-shoyu sweetness underneath the cold fish and crisp leaves.
- Why you will love this recipe: The dressing carries the dish. A 1:1 sesame-and-olive emulsion you will not see in bottled version, and one you can pour over any salad in the fridge.
- Must-haves: Japanese soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, and sashimi-grade fish.
- Skill Level: Easy, a 30-second simmer for the dressing base, then plate and pour at the table.
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What Is Sashimi Salad?
Sashimi salad (刺身サラダ) is a Japanese home-and-izakaya plate where a soy-forward dressing carries thin slices of raw fish over a bed of leafy greens. The line that pulls it across into sashimi territory is the dressing itself. Vinegar steps back, soy sauce steps forward, and that single shift is the reason the dish reads as raw fish over greens rather than a cold seafood toss.
For this recipe, the version I serve at my own table is what I reach for on a Weeknight when I want everything at once. Light enough to not weigh me down, refreshing on a tired evening, and the kind I keep going back to for another bite. The dressing is the reason. You could honestly pour it over any salad you have in the fridge and call it dinner.
Sashimi Salad Ingredients
- Japanese soy sauce: The first thing the dressing needs, and the one I refuse to swap. Soy is what pulls the whole plate across into sashimi territory. Without it, you are making a different dish.
- Toasted sesame oil: The second thing the dressing needs, and the one most home cooks already have within arm’s reach. I keep a small bottle of toasted sesame oil (the dark amber kind) for finishing, and I use half a tablespoon here.
- Sashimi-grade fish: Do not overthink the choice here. Pick whatever sashimi-grade fish you can get your hands on. Salmon, tuna, yellowtail, red snapper, scallop, sweet shrimp, squid. If you can mix 1 red, 1 white, and 1 salmon, that is the version I serve at home, but a single block of salmon on its own is plenty, as the dressing carries the dish.
Substitutions & Variations
A sashimi salad bends in more places than it breaks. The fish itself has to be sashimi-grade and the soy has to be real Japanese soy, and after that the dish is yours to walk around.
Substitutions:
- Assorted sashimi-grade fish → Whatever sashimi-grade you can get: Salmon, tuna, yellowtail, red snapper, scallop, sweet shrimp, and squid all work. Red, white, and salmon mixed is the version I make at home, but a single type on its own is plenty when the dressing is right.
- Mirin → Sake and a small pinch of extra sugar: If you do not keep mirin, a splash of sake and a pinch more sugar in the saucepan gets you close enough.
- Olive oil → A neutral oil with a splash more sesame oil: Grapeseed or rice bran oil works in place of olive, but you lose the fruity counterweight, so I add a few extra drops of toasted sesame to keep the dressing from going flat.
- Mixed leaf lettuce and baby spinach → Any soft mixed greens or torn butter lettuce: Whatever soft greens you have in the fridge will hold up under this dressing for the first few minutes.
- Soy sauce → Tamari (for gluten-free): Tamari is a clean one-to-one swap and reads a touch rounder.
Have trouble finding Japanese ingredients? Check out my ultimate guide to Japanese ingredient substitutes!
Variations:
- Gochujang and toasted sesame: A teaspoon of gochujang whisked into the finished dressing turns the plate into something little Korean. Not Japanese anymore, but very good.
- Add shredded shiso chiffonade on top: A few shiso leaves rolled and sliced thin go on top of the fish right before the dressing for a herbaceous pop.
How to Make My Sashimi Salad
Before you start (Mise en place):
- Slice the sashimi-grade fish if you use blocks.
- Wash and dry the leafy greens. A salad spinner is perfect for this.
- Have a small saucepan, a heatproof jug, and a whisk on the bench.
i. Combine the Japanese soy sauce, mirin, and sugar in a small saucepan. Bring to a gentle boil over medium heat, then let it bubble for 30 seconds.
ii. Remove from the heat immediately.
Mirin straight out of the bottle reads sweet on the tongue but carries a raw alcohol.. 30 seconds of heat lets the alcohol go, dissolves the sugar completely, and turns the soy from sharp to round.
i. Transfer the warm soy mixture from the saucepan to a heatproof jug or small mixing bowl.
ii. Let it sit for a minute while you grab the oils.
i. While whisking the warm soy base, slowly pour in the toasted sesame oil and olive oil. Keep whisking until the dressing turns cloudy and uniform. If you have a milk frother, emulsifying will be much easier and faster.
ii. Add the toasted white sesame seeds, garlic paste, lemon juice, and ground white pepper and whisk once more.
iii. Store the dressing in the fridge until you are ready to plate.
The 1:1 split of toasted sesame and olive oil is not a random guess. Sesame alone gets heavy on the fish, and olive alone strips out the savory edge. Together they sit right in the middle, in my opinion. Whisk vigorously while pouring the oils in a slow stream, and the dressing turns from glossy to cloudy as the oils break into the soy base. That cloudy look is the signal.
If the dressing still looks like soy with oil floating on top, keep whisking. If it never fully comes together, the salad is still delicious, you just need to give the jar a hard shake before each pour.
i. Place the baby leaf spinach and mixed leaf lettuce in a wide, shallow bowl. Cube the avocado and halve the cherry tomatoes. Scatter the avocado cubes and tomato halves around the bowl.
i. Arrange the sashimi slices on top of the greens in the bowl.
ii. Whisk or shake the chilled dressing 1 last time, then pour the dressing directly over the fish.
iii. Mix gently at the table and serve immediately.
If you follow the default recipe, it will yield 2-3 main servings, or 4-5 side servings.
Essential Tips & Tricks
- Measure the sugar exactly. The wafu dressing carries 1/2 teaspoon of sugar against 1 tablespoon of soy and 1 tablespoon of mirin, and even an extra pinch tips the balance into a-bit-too-sweet territory. Use a measuring spoon, level it off, and resist the cook’s habit of eyeballing sweet ingredients.
- Whisk hard enough to emulsify, and shake the jar if it splits. A finished dressing should turn cloudy and uniform when the oils break into the soy base, that cloudy look is the signal. If the jar sits in the fridge and the dressing breaks back into oil and soy after a few minutes, the salad is delicious anyway, just give the jar a hard shake right before each pour and the texture lands on the fish either way.
- Keep the fish cold and the plate cold. Pull the sashimi-grade saku (block) from the fridge only when the bowl is ready and the dressing is whisked, and consider chilling the serving plate in the freezer for 10 minutes before you build.
With these simple tips in mind, you’re set for success every time you make sashimi salad.
Storage & Meal Prep
Fridge: The sashimi-grade fish needs to be eaten on the day you buy it, full stop. The cut vegetables (greens, tomatoes, cubed avocado) keep 1 to 2 days in an airtight container, though the avocado will brown at the edges. The wafu dressing keeps 1 week refrigerated in a sealed jar.
Freezer: Not recommended.
Meal prep: The 1 part of this recipe worth prepping ahead is the dressing, and it is worth it. Make a double or triple batch on a Sunday, store it in a sealed jar in the fridge, and you have 1 week of fast salads ready to go (shake the jar hard before each pour to bring a split dressing back together). The rest of the components are not meal-prep friendly.
What to Serve With This Recipe
More Japanese Salad Recipes
- Japanese Sesame Spinach Salad
- Creamy Japanese Avocado Salad
- Wakame Seaweed Salad
- Addictive Daikon Salad
Want more bowls in the same family? Browse my full Japanese salad collection for your next favorite.
Did You Try This Recipe?
I would love to hear your thoughts!
💬 Leave a review and ⭐️ rating in the comments below. 📷 I also love to see your photos – submit them here!
Sashimi Salad (with Homemade Japanese Dressing)
Ingredients
Homemade Wafu Dressing
- 1 tbsp Japanese soy sauce (koikuchi shoyu)
- 1 tbsp mirin
- ½ tsp sugar
- ½ tbsp toasted sesame oil
- ½ tbsp olive oil extra-virgin, nothing showy or peppery
- ½ tbsp toasted white sesame seeds
- ½ tsp garlic paste
- ½ tsp lemon juice yuzu or sudachi juice swap one-to-one if you can find them, brighter and a touch more floral
- 1 pinch ground white pepper
Salad Ingredients
- 30 g baby leaf spinach soft greens hold up under this dressing
- 150 g mixed leaf lettuce any soft mixed greens or torn butter lettuce works in place
- 1 avocado cube it and scatter around the bowl
- 100 g mini tomatoes
- 200 g sashimi-grade fish salmon, tuna, yellowtail etc thinly sliced
My recommended brands of ingredients and seasonings can be found in my Japanese pantry guide.
Can’t find certain Japanese ingredients? See my substitution guide here.
Instructions
- Pour 1 tbsp Japanese soy sauce (koikuchi shoyu), 1 tbsp mirin and ½ tsp sugar into a small saucepan and heat over medium. Let it bubble for 30 seconds, then remove from the heat.
- Pour the contents of the pan into a heatproof jug or bowl, then slowly pour in the ½ tbsp toasted sesame oil and ½ tbsp olive oil while whisking vigorously. Once emulsified, add ½ tbsp toasted white sesame seeds, ½ tsp garlic paste, ½ tsp lemon juice and 1 pinch ground white pepper. Mix and store in the fridge until use.
- Place 30 g baby leaf spinach and 150 g mixed leaf lettuce in a large salad bowl. Cube 1 avocado and half 100 g mini tomatoes, then scatter them around the bowl.
- Arrange 200 g sashimi-grade fish on the top. Whisk or shake the dressing vigorously before use. Pour the dressing over the salad right before serving, mix gently but thoroughly, and enjoy!
I found your blog on Google while searching for sashimi salad recipes. I tried this and mixed it with some sashimi I got from 99 Ranch here in Los Angeles. So delish! I was surprised how rich and tempting the dressing tasted! Unfortunately, I’ve never had mirin before and had to sub rice vinegar for it. The only thing I would suggest adding is cucumber; I did and it helped fill me up even more. お疲れ様！
Thanks for sharing!
HI Esther,
Thank you very much for trying this recipe and sharing your experience! I’m glad you enjoyed it!
I will make sure to add cucumber for additional ingredient idea when I update this post!
Yuto