Japanese Spicy Sauce - Chuka Tare

Japanese love sauces and dressings (known in Japan as tare). Some are served over piping hot food and others are served over chilled dishes such as chilled noodle, vegetables and fish. Other times the sauce/dressing is used as dipping sauce. This one can be used as a dipping sauce or drizzled over different dishes. This sauce is very good served over bland tasting food such as steamed vegetables. Just drizzle this sauce before serving. I often use this particular sauce for cold Japanese ramen noodle dish called hiyashi chuka (which translates to chilled Chinese-style noodle). But, this sauce goes beyond that and is really delicious drizzled over ham slices. For special occasions, I purchase honey baked ham and line a huge platter with lettuce greens. Next goes the ham slices decoratively. Right before serving, drizzle this sauce. It is magic! It is so good! It makes ordinary ham taste incredible. Note: tohbanjan or doubanjiang is also known as Chinese hot red chile bean paste/sauce and is spicy hot - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doubanjiang You can see the Lee Kum Kee's sauce here: http://europe.lkk.com/consumer/product_detail.asp?ProductID=31

• Ready In: 10 mins
• Serves: 8

Ingredients

• 6  tablespoons soy sauce
• 6  tablespoons rice vinegar
• 1  teaspoon  red chili bean sauce, Chinese (or tohbanjan or doubanjiang) or 1  teaspoon sriracha sauce
• 2  garlic cloves, minced
• 1  teaspoon gingerroot, minced
• 3  green onions, thinly sliced
• 2  teaspoons  sesame oil

Directions

1. Mix completely and chill.