Homemade dressing is an easy, healthy treat
I’m a proselytizing locavore. However, some foods are difficult to find locally here in China. That’s why I’ve written about how to make yogurt and bake bread easily at home. When I found those recipes to be some of my most popular articles among readers I decided to write my latest column on how to make fabulous inexpensive salad dressing using local ingredients, which means that even the olive oil will be replaced by a little-known native star. Dressing is the soul of the salad--when you make it, you should taste, experiment and have fun, as there are no fast rules.
Camellia oil (山茶油), coldpressed from the seeds of tea plants, claims many of the properties of olive oil and green tea. The significant benefits of this oil are belied by its lack of English-language publicity and low price. It’s organically grown and loaded with antioxidants and unsaturated fatty acids. Used in China for thousands of years, camellia oil has only recently been promoted widely in supermarkets in Shanghai. Look for it in the oil section of almost all local supermarkets, there are a variety of brands to choose from. Camellia also has a high smoking point, so it's good for frying or sauteeing foods as well.
For our dressing's sour counterpoint, there are many local vinegars. I’ve found a sweet apple vinegar (苹果醋) and there are plenty of black and rice vinegars. You can also make your own wine vinegar: take leftover wine (red or white), or that dusty bottle of re-gifted Dynasty (you can even combine different wines), ideally pour it into a wide-mouthed jar to let in air, cover the top with cloth to keep dust out and store it in a warm place for a month or more. Voila! You have made awesome vinegar.
For your sweet note, try one of the many local honeys. Acacia honey (洋槐蜂蜜) bestows gentle floral aroma and is one of the few honeys which don’t crystallize, so it melds easily into your dressing.
My recipe for a basic dressing yields 20 servings:
1 c. camellia oil
2 tbs. apple or wine vinegar
4 tbs. lemon juice
1-2 tsp. acacia honey
1-3 cloves of minced garlic
salt and pepper to taste
Shake everything together in a jar and keep it in your fridge to complete a fresh salad in minutes.
Whenever you use it, you can create variations. Try adding any of the following to a serving large enough for one salad: a tbs. of chopped cilantro, half tsp. of toasted curry or cumin powder (toasting the curry or cumin lightly in a pan will bring out its fragrance), tsp. of any jam or a dash of sesame oil. Also, experiment with combining several different vinegars together--this trick, taught to me by my mother, adds new depths of flavor to your dressing. Finally, sprinkle your veggies with sunflower seeds or about half a tsp. of fennel seeds–these make magic in your salad. To me, a multi-textured colorful salad, coated with homemade dressing, is a necessary summer joy.
UPDATE: Want to know where to buy camellia oil in Shanghai? Check out this post.
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Awesome! This is the perfect antidote to 100rmb imported olive oil. As someone who is not at home in the kitchen (when I'M cooking, that is), I love that you give readers the vocabulary to adjust their own creations, not just tell us one way to make something.
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Wow!! I'm so pleased to hear there's an olive oil substitute and locally produced!! Salad dressing is simple and it could be used on steamed veggies, like string beans, cauliflowers...and your favorite beans, like garbanzo, or green soybeans!!
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Salad dressing made from your own kitchen helps save money plus it offers better quality ingredients that's good for you!!
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You should do an entire article about this camellia oil - sounds enticing. I would be hard pressed to give up my olive oil, but am game to expand my options. Honey in dressing - unless copulating with mustard - sounds distressing to me. But that's just me. I prefer to add minced white onions and/or red peppers. Speaking of which, I've been accumulating the seeds of my pepper variatals to plant. That should work, right, oh garden goddess? Nature is 丰富that way, I reckon.
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I've heard that reducing the vinegar-honey combo on the stove first is good too... I wonder if this also adds more "depth" as you put it. But I'm guessing you just add il at the end as you would anyway. Do you find the dressing improves with time or is best fresh? I'm a huge fan of the jam idea, esp any jam that has seeds in it to add some texture (like raspberry)
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Excellent - now I know what to take home to the food-lovers I'll be visiting in the US (along w/ a clipping of your article!).
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I've heard your emails and comments regarding camellia oil and I'm going to put up a small post about it later on tonight--I know some of you couldn't find it in the supermarket so I'll also try to post a list of places which definitely carry it. Thanks for reading!
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Wow, this is cool. I do make my own dressing sometimes, your recipe looks great. You can also add some fresh herbs like mint, thyme or dill, depends what type of green or salad is preparing for.
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lisa, et all, I firmly agree that mustard is delightful as a counterpoint to sweetness in a dressing, whether from jam or honey but I was determined to make this dressing with only local ingredients readily available at Chinese supermarkets, which precluded certain favorite additions such as: Dijon mustard, feta cheese, and lovely herbs like thyme and dill. However, I have been experimenting with some other local ingredients to pep things up and I'll post about them later. I also encourage the growing of herbs at home! mtu--I like the idea of reducing vinegar and honey on the stove to intensify flavors. As for timing: definitely letting the dressing sit for at least a few hours will improve things. One more tip: to make a creamy dressing simply add a tbspn of mayo. The camellia oil buying details are coming, still calling around to supermarkets for the info!
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thanks for the information. i'd been looking for a good way to make a healthy salad this summer. i found the camellia oil to be excellent, and with just the right amount of vinegar mix the salad came out superb. when i do get back home i will have to hunt down this oil. thanks!
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So glad you made and enjoyed the dressing! There actually are 2 companies I know of which recently launched camellia oil in the US, although it's still very limited in distribution. You can look up "tea seed oil" available through Arette Food or "stir fry tea oil" sold by Republic of Tea.
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Just the type of informtion I needed. This is very helpful. I can now buy reasonably priced oil and vinegar and slurge healthy home made meals!