A Recipe for Caesar Salad with Aonori Croutons and Bonito Flakes

A "wafu" take on everyone's favorite salad

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The recipe box is a collection of recipes and techniques from my favorite cookbooks—everything from up-and-coming titles to tried-and-true favorites from my collection. (Though you may see some original recipes here from time to time, too 😉) You can check out TOD’s archive of past recipes here if you’re looking for some meal inspiration.

Though Japanese cuisine is often lauded for its longstanding, centuries-old culinary traditions, a closer look will reveal that many distinctly “Japanese” dishes like tempura, ramen, Japanese-style curry (karei raisu), and tonkatsu are actually products of cultural intermixing. That’s where the term wafu (和風) comes in—which translates, literally, to “Japanese style”and refers to dishes imbued with Japanese ingredients and techniques. The idea of tasting and appreciating foods from every corner of the globe and, when the opportunity presents itself, combining them in a truly melodious harmony serves as the essential groundwork for Sonoko Sakai’s latest book, “Wafu Cooking.” It captures the cultural exchange between Japan and the rest of the world via dishes that arrived from abroad and were adjusted to suit local tastes—and, thanks to Sonoko’s multicultural upbringing having lived in both Japan and parts of North America, is also a snapshot of Japanese dishes reimagined through an American lens.

This is Sonoko’s world, and in it miso is used as a kakushiaji (hidden ingredient) in a meaty five-layer lasagna to be served with rice. Paella is made with Japanese rice (as opposed to the short-grain variety) and shrimp dashi, then seasoned with usukuchi shoyu and sake. Meatloaf is doused with a lip-smacking amakara (sweet and salty) sauce and served with a side of fluffy potatoes dusted with aonori powder.

“While I love and revere traditional Japanese cooking … it is the melding of flavors and ingredients from all different cultures that creates the tasty, comforting, and simple dishes that I appreciate and am inspired by,” Sonoko writes in her introduction. “This way of cooking is representative of the way I, and so many others, like to cook and eat these days—crossing from Japan to the United States or to Mexico or to Italy on the same plate without even blinking. The evolution taking place in our culinary culture—an exchange of ingredients, seasonings, techniques, presentation, or sensibilities as diverse as you can possibly imagine, working together in pursuit of harmony—is, to me, one of the greatest pleasures of life.”

Today’s recipe hails from the book’s “Plants and Vegetables” chapter—a Caesar salad proudly featuring radicchio leaves, which lend a bold, slightly spicy bite, in addition to beautiful maroon color. The dressing is truly “wafu-ed” (yes, we’re turning it into a verb—denominalization in action!): ponzu sauce and bonito to accompany the traditional anchovies and Parmesan cheese, resulting in a total umami bomb. Here, the salad leaves are tossed with croutons dusted with an aonori powder, which gives the overall dish a depth of flavor with “oceanic” notes.

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Photo by Rick Poon

For the croutons

• ½ loaf crusty bread, cut into ¾-inch cubes with crusts (about 3 cups)

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 2 teaspoons aonori powder

• Pinch sea salt

• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

For the dressing (makes about 1 cup)

• 1 egg yolk

• ¼ teaspoon Japanese mustard or Dijon mustard

• 3 tablespoons ponzu sauce

• 1 small garlic clove, grated

• 2 anchovy fillets, drained

• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar or lemon juice

• 2 tablespoons water

• Sea salt, to taste

• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

• ⅓ cup light sesame oil

• ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil

• 2 tablespoons finely grated Parmesan cheese

For the salad

• 1 head radicchio or 3-4 heads little gems, torn into bite-sized pieces

• ½ cup (4 grams) bonito flakes, for garnish (optional)

1. Place the cubed bread in a medium bowl. Drizzle with the olive oil and massage with your hands until the bread is lightly coated in oil. Arrange the oiled bread evenly across a baking sheet. Bake until golden and crisp all the way through, 4-7 minutes. Toss halfway through for even color. Just before serving the salad, sprinkle the croutons with aonori, salt, and pepper.

2. To make the salad dressing, add the egg yolk, mustard, ponzu sauce, garlic, anchovies, rice vinegar, dashi, salt, and pepper to the bowl of a blender. Using a medium-low setting, blend the ingredients to make a puree. Once thoroughly combined, keep the blender going and slowly add the oils, starting drop by drop, gradually increasing to a fine, steady stream. Continue blending until you have fully added both the neutral oil and the olive oil. Add the Parmesan, blend to combine, and taste. Adjust to taste with additional salt or up to 2 tablespoons more oil. Keep in mind that adding more acid will loosen your dressing and adding more oil will thicken it.

3. To serve, place the radicchio or little gems in a large bowl, and drizzle evenly but lightly with dressing to begin. Toss to combine, taste, and add more dressing if desired, then toss again. Place the dressed radicchio on a large platter and garnish with the seasoned croutons and a light sprinkle of bonito flakes, if using.

Recipe adapted from “Wafu Cooking: Everyday Recipes with Japanese Style” by Sonoko Sakai. Copyright © 2024. Used with permission of Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved.