Ponzu Sauce – A Beautiful Mess

Ponzu sauce is a savory, citrusy Japanese dipping sauce. It’s a classic condiment and tastes similar to a vinaigrette. I love it for dipping dumplings, pot stickers or even egg rolls into (which I must admit I mostly buy from the freezer section).

Ponzu sauce is super easy to make yourself; it only requires five ingredients. There is no cooking involved, only steeping time. I like to steep my sauce for three days in the refrigerator before use, but you could do it as quickly as eight hours or for much longer periods.

Related: This recipe calls for bonito flakes and kombu. If you’re not sure what other recipes to use these ingredients in, try making homemade miso soup next!

Ingredients

• Soy sauce
• Lemon
• Mirin
• Bonito flakes
• Kombu – dried kelp

If you can’t find bonito flakes or kombu at your grocery store, try an Asian market.

Directions

Zest one of the lemons and juice the rest. Chop or cut up the kombu into small pieces.

In a jar with a lid combine all the ingredients. Give this a good shake and then tuck it away in your refrigerator for 3 days.

Strain the sauce so no large pieces remain. Use your homemade ponzu or store in an airtight refrigerator for up to two weeks or more.

Tips for Making

• You can mix lemons and limes for the citrus in this recipe.
• If you can’t find mirin, a few substitutes you can try are rice vinegar, sake, or dry sherry.
• Any glass jar with a lid can be used to steep and store this recipe.

More Dips & Sauces Recipes