That Carrot Ginger Dressing
Above one of the red patent leather-color booths in the front room of New York’s hardcore punk-rock vegetarian joint, Superiority Burger, there’s a photo of the now-closed but long beloved Dojo Restaurant, known for its pioneering vegan part of the menu. A generational bond exists between the two restaurants that goes beyond their non-carnivorous ways, and that is carrot ginger dressing (which is commonly served at Superiority in admiration). What premiered at Dojo’s original location on St. Marks Place in 1974 as a beautifully bright beta-carotene bite, has been immortalized in the hearts of many downtown New Yorkers since.
Most carrot ginger dressing today is associated with innocuous side salads at sushi restaurants — served atop limpish lettuce, cold cucumbers, halved grape tomatoes and paper thin radish slices. But the dressing at Dojo, a casual Japanese-y diner, found a place of pride as a glistening crown for leafy mixed greens alongside a variety of steamed veggies served with brown rice, soy-based patties, noodles and many other dishes that appealed to the bohemian macrobiotic set.
The inclusion of tahini in the Dojo dressing gave it a creaminess, which was balanced by an accentuated acidity. Rice vinegar ripped through the root vegetable and rhizome base, rounding out the sweet spiciness. Whereas rice vinegar is often used for its more subtle acidity, here it was the bond between carrot and ginger.
Ever since Dojo closed in 2018, plenty have attempted to recreate their CGD; there’s a whole Reddit thread dedicated to it! I’ve tried store-bought bottled versions (Dojo made its own at one point), from MOMO (my favorite of the bunch, and made in Brooklyn), to Makoto (which has more celery than carrot), as well as Wafu (which uses both rice vinegar and white distilled vinegar), and even Bragg’s (which forgoes the carrot for sesame, and sesame), but none seems to scratch that acidic itch.
CGD is in the air in NYC. Most recently, I saw a version at Penny, a chic new East Village seafood stop, surprisingly close to Dojo’s ghost, with roasted Kyoto carrots, marcona almonds, pickled shallots and boquerones, the whole experience brightened by the use of liquid shio koji and chardonnay vinegar in the dressing. Unconsciously, or completely intentional, CGD’s history in the East Village is strong, only made stronger by a good glug of vinegar.
POSTSCRIPT:
I knew the CDG fascination wasn’t just me when I happened to click through Deb Perelman’s blog Smitten Kitchen, known for its cultish collection of reconfigured cookbook recipes, and found Perelman using Goop’s Avocado Salad with Carrot Ginger Dressing as a stepping stone. Perelman amps up her version with more rice vinegar, which not only helps with tanginess, but also the viscosity — a chunky CDG isn’t a good look. She then revisited this idea in her latest cookbook: Smitten Kitchen Everyday with a Sushi Takeout Cobb — the dressing gets drizzled over rows of tofu, edamame, avocado, cabbage, cukes, tomatoes and julienned daikon, bringing CDG firmly into California cuisine. J. Kenji López-Alt, a James Beard Award winning cookbook author and chef, and Perlman’s co-conspirator on The Recipe Podcast, has the more typical version in his book Wok, as Japanese Side Salad with Carrot and Ginger Dressing. It’s spot-on standard fare, and I’m now hoping they’ll do a CDG episode to continue this thought!