You are going to want to put this Fast Shoyu Mayo Dipping Sauce on EVERYTHING once you try it. It’s literally just two ingredients yet it creates so much flavor without much effort. Another way to look at this is that it’s an Asian-inspired aioli. So yes, you can mix shoyu and mayo together!
I was at a restaurant with my friend who ordered a fried appetizer and insisted that I try the dipping sauce. As she stirred the contents of the sauce bowl, she told me it looks like it is simple to make, but she couldn’t figure out what made the sauce so good. I took a taste and knew that it was shoyu (soy sauce) and mayonnaise!
Favorite Items to Dip
My son absolutely loves to eat raw watercress with this shoyu mayonnaise dressing. It’s quick to whip up on a weeknight and he will eat these two or three times a month without complaint. I’m all for a more decadent salad dressing if it means he gets his fill of veggies!
The creamy dressing is a perfect pairing with the pepperiness of the watercress. You can eat the watercress by dipping it into the dressing or cutting up the water cress into pieces and tossing it all together. It’s up to you! This sauce also goes great with steamed artichokes, roasted brussels sprouts, steamed broccoli, and more.
Other Uses for Shoyu Mayo Dipping Sauce
Looking for a way to change up your ranch or Caesar dressing? Serve this dipping sauce as a dressing and toss it with your favorite greens. Arugula would be amazing!
You can mix it with your favorite fish or seafood for onigiri (Japanese rice balls) or a sushi-inspired dinner bowl. Or you can turn on the oven, pat your favorite fish dry, then put this on top of your fish with furikake (Japanese rice seasoning) and you have furikake fish. The possibilities are endless.
Soy Sauce Health Impacts
Many people know that shoyu has lots of sodium. Those with high cholesterol need to watch your salt intake and should probably keep soy sauce use to a minimum. There are low sodium soy sauces available if this is a health concern for you. (If you are looking for budget-friendly ways to keep sodium low, consider adding water to the regular soy sauce when cooking. This is not recommended when using soy sauce for dipping your sushi or sashimi.) If you need a good shoyu, try Kikkoman brand. For your convenience, the Amazon link is below, but compare prices to your local Asian market or warehouse store because it just might be cheaper!
Now, if you’re like me and have lower blood pressure and/or are in the sun a lot, you might need to add more sodium to your diet. Pay attention to symptoms of dizziness or lightheadedness when standing, especially if you are drinking lots of water. This might mean you need to have a salty snack or a meal with more sodium than usual.
Mayo Concerns
Mayonnaise gets a bad rap because is high in fat and calories. I grew up with mayo-based sauces because it wasn’t cost-effective to have multiple bottles of different sauces and dressings. They are hard to use up before they go bad. Yet, we always had a jar of mayo and shoyu bottle around the kitchen. Mayonnaise was used to make creamy dishes because it kept longer in the fridge compared to fresh cream. Soy sauce was always there because of the heavy Japanese and Chinese influence in Hawaii. Portion control and eating mayonnaise with vegetables was the key to keeping the weight under control. When you eat this Fast Shoyu Mayo Dipping Sauce in moderation and with lots of veggies, it’s a flavorful way to encourage overall healthier eating habits.
Here are more tasty ways to feed you and your family veggies without much effort!
Fast Shoyu Mayo Dipping Sauce
Equipment
- 1 small bowl
- measuring cups and spoons
Ingredients
- ½ cup light mayonnaise
- 1 tsp soy sauce (shoyu) regular, not low sodium
Instructions
- Add mayonnaise and soy sauce (shoyu) to a bowl and mix until combined. If needed, add additional soy sauce in ½ teaspoon increments to taste as each brand of soy sauce has different sodium amounts.
- Use as a dressing/dip for raw vegetables (like watercress) steamed vegetables (like artichoke or broccoli), or fried food.
