Japanese Steakhouse copycat ginger sauce is so quick and easy to make, you’ll need 6 ingredients and under 5 minutes to make it. This popular sauce that you eat at Benihana’s Japanese restaurants is a great dipping sauce for hibachi shrimp, steaks, chicken, veggies, and rice too. You can it as dipping sauce or as a marinade for grilling meat and veggies.
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Benihana’s famous soy ginger sauce copycat recipe
Benihana is an American Japanese Steakhouse company that dates back to the 1960s. One of the things they are popular for is their cooking performances conducted before your eyes while cooking on a hibachi griddle.
Chefs put up an entertaining show while cooking the dishes, but today’s post is about those small bowls of condiments you get along with the delicious food. Benihana has two very popular sauces that are mostly served for dipping purposes, but at home, you can use those sauces for grilling and marinating as well. It’s their mustard sauce and ginger sauce.
The mustard sauce usually is served with chicken and beef dishes. It’s the perfect accompaniment for hibachi chicken and hibachi steak.
Ginger sauce on the other hand pairs well with seafood and vegetables. It works well with shrimp and fish. You can drizzle it over a poke bowl and on vegetables.
Fresh zesty soy ginger sauce is simply a blend of fresh ginger, yellow onion, soy sauce, rice vinegar, brown sugar, and freshly squeezed lemon juice and zest.
You can dip everything in it – grilled chicken, steak, shrimp, and vegetables. I even prefer it to drizzle on salads, fried rice, soups, and poke bowls. If you are feeling a little more adventurous use this sauce as a marinade for meat, you are welcome!
Ingredients
Here’s what you’ll need –
- Fresh ginger
- Yellow onion
- Rice wine vinegar (or white vinegar)
- Soy sauce
- Brown sugar
- Lemon juice and zest
All ingredient’s exact measurements are mentioned in the recipe card below.
- Ginger – I only recommend fresh ginger roots for this recipe. Peel the brown skin off before use.
- Yellow onion – adds a beautiful aroma to the sauce. Feel free to use the white part of the green onion too. Wouldn’t recommend red onion but you can use white onion instead of yellow onion.
- Rice vinegar – adds sharp acidity to the sauce. You can use any vinegar that has strong acidity like rice vinegar, rice wine vinegar, or white distilled vinegar. Apple cider vinegar does not have strong acidity, using it in the dip will lack the strong acidic taste in the sauce.
- Soy sauce – adds salty, savory umami flavor notes to the ginger sauce recipe. Use low-sodium soy sauce. You can use regular soy sauce or light soy sauce (I used the latter).
- Lemon – 1 big lemon, use zest and ½ of its juice. Adjust according to the size of the lemons you use. You’ll need approximately 3 tablespoons of lemon juice (taste first and adjust the amount according to your palate)
- Brown sugar – a hint of sweetness to balance the strong tart flavors. Dark brown sugar, light brown sugar, or maple syrup can be used as a sweetener.
How to make it
Using a spoon peel the thin brown skin off the ginger root and roughly chop it. Cut onion into quarters.
Add ginger and onion to a food processor and pulse it for a few seconds. This step is optional. Though you can pulse all ingredients together at once, I prefer to pulse onion and ginger first before I add in the liquids.
Add rice vinegar, soy sauce, brown sugar, zest of lemon, and freshly squeezed lemon juice to the processor. Pulse until desired consistency is reached. This sauce can be chunky as you like. Do not make it very smooth. It’s best with a chunky texture.
Taste the sauce and adjust it to your preference. If it’s too salty for your palate, squeeze a little more fresh lemon juice into it. If you prefer it a tad sweeter, add ½ teaspoon more brown sugar.
Tips to make the best ginger sauce
The ginger sauce tastes best after resting. With time it develops flavors.
If you don’t have a food processor, you can make this sauce simply by grating ginger and onion in a grated.
If you like smooth consistent ginger sauce, use a blender. I prefer this sauce with a chunky texture, where ginger is fine pieces but still visible.
Adjust to your preference.
- For more chunkier ginger sauce add ½ more onion.
- For sharpness add a bit more lemon.
- For extra flavor boast add a clove of garlic (raw garlic has a strong pungent flavor, just a clove will do).
- You can even spice it up by adding a pinch of cayenne pepper. Note fresh ginger has some amount of heat.
Servings suggestions
Dipping sauce – This sauce is best used as a dipping sauce for hibachi shrimp, steaks, chicken, veggies, and rice too. You can it as dipping sauce or as a marinade for grilling meat and veggies.
As a marinade – you can use it to marinade chicken, beef, shrimp, or seafood. The umami flavors from the sauce penetrate through the meat which flavors it and can be later grilled or stir-fried in a wok.
Use as dressing – you can drizzle bright, zesty, bold ginger sauce over salads, grilled meat, steamed vegetables, on hibachi fried rice.
Storage
Fridge – Japanese Steakhouse soy ginger sauce can be stored in a clean airtight container inside the refrigerator. It will keep well for 7 days when stored correctly.
Freezer – you can make a large batch and store it in the freezer. Portion the sauce in ice cube trays and freeze until set. Once frozen, remove the frozen cubes from the tray and store them in clean freezer zip-lock bags. Store in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Can I use ground ginger?
This sauce is all about fresh aromats and seasoning. Using fresh ginger gives it the best taste that you experience. I highly recommend fresh ginger roots. But if you don’t have access to fresh ginger roots, you can use ground ginger. Remember ground ginger will not give this sauce the same flavor and taste.
More Asian recipes to try
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📋Ginger Sauce (Japanese Steakhouse Copycat)
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons ginger peeled and chopped roughly
- 1 medium yellow onion roughly chopped
- ½ big lemon zest and juice
- ¼ cup rice vinegar
- ¾ cup soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon brown sugar
Instructions
- Using a spoon peel the thin brown skin off the ginger root and roughly chop it. Cut onion into quarters.
- Add ginger and onion to a food processor and pulse it for a few seconds. This step is optional. Though you can pulse all ingredients together at once, I prefer to pulse onion and ginger first before I add in the liquids.
- Add rice vinegar, soy sauce, brown sugar, zest of lemon, and freshly squeezed lemon juice to the processor. Pulse until desired consistency is reached. This sauce can be chunky as you like. Do not make it very smooth. It’s best with a chunky texture.
- Taste the sauce and adjust it to your preference. If it’s too salty for your palate, squeeze a little more fresh lemon juice into it. If you prefer it a tad sweeter, add ½ teaspoon more brown sugar.
Notes
Nutrition
Recipe Notes
- The ginger sauce tastes best after resting. With time it develops flavors.
- If you don’t have a food processor, you can make this sauce simply by grating ginger and onion in a grated.
- If you like smooth consistent ginger sauce, use a blender. I prefer this sauce with a chunky texture, where ginger is fine pieces but still visible.
- Adjust to your preference.
- For more chunkier ginger sauce add ½ more onion.
- For sharpness add a bit more lemon.
- For extra flavor boast add a clove of garlic (raw garlic has a strong pungent flavor, just a clove will do).
- You can even spice it up by adding a pinch of cayenne pepper. Note fresh ginger has some amount of heat.
Created by Jyothi Rajesh
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I’m Jyothi Rajesh (Jo for short) and i’m the founder of the food blog, Curry Trail where I share my culinary Adventures. I live in Bangalore, India. I’m a mom of two beautiful kids. My passion is creating and sharing delicious and easy recipes for the home cook. I have been blogging since 2007 and many of my recipes have appeared in both online and print publications over the years. Learn more about Jyothi Rajesh.
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