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    Sushi Sauce Recipes: Dynamite, Eel, Mango

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    3 Sushi Sauce Recipes

    Originally published April 7, 2017, Updated on 08/30/20

    Close up image of 3 bottles of sauce - one yellow, one brown, and one pink. In front of the bottles is a plate of sushi, with the 3 colours of sauce drizzled across the plate in squiggles

    These 3 Sushi Sauce Recipes are super easy to make, and taste fantastic. Have fun combining them with various sushi roll types!

    3 recipes posted in as many days! I'm on a roll - a sushi roll, in this case! (Sorry!)

    In truth, the recipes I'm posting this week are all in lead-up to a big post I plan to make next week, which will be referring back to all of them. It'll be a fun one! Anyway, *this* post is all about Sushi Sauce Recipes.

    We love making sushi at home. While we do tend to stick to a certain few items (Tuna and/or salmon, usually with avocados, cucumber, and/or mango), sometimes we like to branch out and have a bit more fun with it - especially if we're feeding more than just us.

    These 3 Sushi Sauce Recipes are super quick and easy to make, and can make the spread a little more polished and impressive, when entertaining.

    While each has a roll or two that they're traditionally served with, it can be fun to play around with, finding new roll combinations that taste amazing

    The Dynamite and Mango sauces are gluten free by default, to make gluten-free eel sauce, just be sure to use a gluten-free soy sauce.

    Close up image of 3 bottles of sauce - one yellow, one brown, and one pink. In front of the bottles is a plate of sushi, with the 3 colours of sauce drizzled across the sushi in squiggles

    How to Use These 3 Sushi Sauce Recipes

    There are two main ways that I’ll serve these sauces:

    Squeeze Bottle

    I like these squeeze bottles - not only are they good for serving the sauces - being able to easily squeeze a uniform drizzle over the sushi - they’re great for storing them in the fridge, as well!


    Pastry Bag

    If you have disposable pastry bags on hand - but not the squeeze bottles - this is a good way to be able to drizzle the sauces over sushi.

    Just spoon your sauce into a pastry bag, cut the tip off the pastry bag, and drizzle your sauce over the sushi.

    This method isn’t great for storage, so I tend to only spoon small amounts into the pastry bag, and just throw out the pastry bag when I’m done. The remaining sauce can be stored in a resealable container in the fridge.

    Close up image of 3 bottles of sauce - one yellow, one brown, and one pink. In front of the bottles is a plate of sushi, with the 3 colours of sauce drizzled across the plate in squiggles

    Other Recipes You May Like

    For sushi to use these sauces on, be sure to try my Tuna Avocado Mango Maki, and my Spicy Tuna Maki. If you're feeling ambitious and social, here's the info for our DIY Sushi Potluck parties!

    Other than those, here are a few more sushi-adjacent recipes:

    DIY Sushi Birthday Cake
    Easy Sushi Casserole
    Homemade Gyoza / Potstickers
    How to Make Sushi Rice
    Mango Salad
    Matcha Green Tea Pavlova
    Pepper Crusted Tuna with Wasabi Cream Sauce

    Close up image of 3 bottles of sauce - one yellow, one brown, and one pink. In front of the bottles is a plate of sushi, with the 3 colours of sauce drizzled across the sushi in squiggles

    Share the Love!

    Before you chow down, be sure to take some pics of your handiwork! If you instagram it, be sure to tag me - @CelebrationGenerationCA - or post it to My Facebook Page - so I can cheer you on!

    Also, be sure to subscribe to my free monthly email newsletter, so you never miss out on any of my nonsense.

    Well, the published nonsense, anyway!

    Now, on to those recipes!

    Close up image of 3 bottles of sauce - one yellow, one brown, and one pink. In front of the bottles is a plate of sushi, with the 3 colours of sauce drizzled across the plate in squiggles

    What is Eel Sauce?

    Also known as Unagi sauce, this is probably the most popular sushi sauce in North America. Eel sauce is a dark, rich, thick, and sticky sauce. It’s sweet, but also heavy on the umami - savoury.

    While Eel Sauce is traditionally used on eel rolls - or on grilled eel dishes - this one tends to get used on many different types of rolls. Whenever you’ve had a dark brown sauce on sushi... chances are good that it was an Eel Sauce.

    In addition to sushi, you can use Eel Sauce on many different foods.

    If you think of it like a Japanese BBQ sauce - it was, after all, intended for use on grilled eel! - you can see that it’ll be great on things like grilled veggies, fish (especially salmon!), chicken, and even beef.

    How to Make Eel Sauce

    Making Eel Sauce is really easy - you just place the ingredients in a sauce pan, and simmer it til it’s nice and thick.

    Don’t let it get TOO thick in the pan, though - it does thicken slightly more as it cools.

    What is Eel Sauce Made of?

    Eel sauce doesn’t actually contain eel - though traditionally, it did. No, it’s actually a vegan friendly sauce, though you’d never guess as much, from the name alone!

    Close up image of a small plate of sushi, with brown sauce drizzled across it. There is a bottle of brown sauce - Eel Sauce for Sushi - behind the plate. This is one of 3 Sushi Sauce Recipes on this post.

    Eel Sauce Ingredients

    My Easy Eel sauce uses only 3 ingredients... and each one brings something important to the mix:

    Mirin

    Mirin is a Japanese sweet wine used in Japanese cooking. Some common uses are in teriyaki sauce, stir fries

    In Eel Sauce, Mirin balances out the sugar by bringing some acidity to the mix. It also contributes a little to the umami flavour profile, but mostly just enhances flavour through the acid.

    If you’re not able to find Mirin, you can substitute a dry sherry

    Soy Sauce

    Soy Sauce brings the umami flavour base to the eel sauce, as well as the saltiness.

    Soy sauce is also what prevents this sauce from being inherently gluten-free, unlike the Dynamite Sauce and Mango Sauce.

    If you need your Eel Sauce to be gluten-free, use a gluten-free soy sauce, tamari, or even coconut aminos instead of basic soy sauce.

    Sugar

    Sugar obviously contributes the bulk of the sweetness in Eel Sauce (with Mirin contributing a little as well), but it also serves to create the *body* of the sauce.

    As your Eel sauce boils down, the sugar is forming a thick syrup. Without sugar, you would have a very runny sauce - not at all appetizing to drizzle over sushi rolls!

    Close up image of a small plate of sushi, with brown sauce drizzled across it. There is a bottle of brown sauce - Eel Sauce for Sushi - behind the plate. This is one of 3 Sushi Sauce Recipes on this post.

    Eel Sauce Recipe

    Close up image of a small plate of sushi, with brown sauce drizzled across it. There is a bottle of brown sauce - Eel Sauce for Sushi - behind the plate. This is one of 3 Sushi Sauce Recipes on this post.
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe Save Recipe
    4.42 from 17 votes

    Eel Sauce for Sushi

    Eel sauce is the dark, sweet sauce used on grilled eel, as well as many types of sushi rolls
    Prep Time2 mins
    Cook Time20 mins
    Total Time22 mins
    Course: Condiment
    Cuisine: Sushi
    Servings: 20 rolls - ¾ cup
    Calories: 32kcal
    Author: Marie Porter

    Equipment

    Plastic Squeeze Bottles

    Ingredients

    • ½ cup Soy Sauce Gluten Free if needed
    • ½ cup Granulated Sugar
    • ½ cup Mirin Japanese sweet wine

    Instructions

    • Combine all three ingredients in a small saucepan, whisk well to combine.
    • Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, reduce heat, and simmer gently until sauce volume has reduced to about ¾ cup. (If you boil it hard, you will end up with a caramel, not a sauce!)
    • Remove from heat, allow to cool to room temperature.
    • Once cooled, transfer to fridge and chill until you’re ready to use it.
    • To serve, spoon sauce into a pastry bag or a sauce bottle (pictured). Cut the tip off the pastry bag (if applicable), squeeze sauce over prepared sushi, as desired.

    Notes

    Traditionally used for eel rolls, this sauce is great on any roll that has a robust or complex flavour. For big fans of eel sauce, it works on almost anything – but can overpower the flavour on rolls with more mild fish

    Nutrition

    Calories: 32kcal | Carbohydrates: 8g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 369mg | Potassium: 12mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 6g | Calcium: 1mg | Iron: 1mg

    What is Dynamite Sauce?

    Dynamite Sauce is probably THE most common sauce used on sushi. It’s the light pink spicy sushi sauce you’ll see drizzled over all kinds of different rolls, usually Spicy Sushi Rolls.

    It’s also commonly used *inside* rolls. If you order a “Spicy ____ Roll” and the inside is a bit creamy? That’s likely dynamite sauce!

    We also like it on crab or shrimp based rolls... and just in general. I consider this sauce to be fairly “neutral”, in that garlic and chili pepper basically goes well with anything.

    While there are plenty of rolls that don’t necessarily need the addition of dynamite sauce, I can’t think of any that this sauce would clash or otherwise NOT work with.

    How to Make Dynamite Sauce

    Dynamite sauce is SUPER simple sauce to make - it’s only 2 ingredients, and is just stirred together. No cooking required!

    Close up image of a small plate of sushi, with creamy pink sauce drizzled across it. There is a bottle of the pink sauce - Dynamite Sauce for Sushi - behind the plate. This is one of 3 Sushi Sauce Recipes on this post.

    Dynamite Sauce Ingredients

    Mayonnaise

    Not a whole lot to say on mayo as an ingredient, TBH.

    When it comes to Dynamite Sauce, I find that the more basic the mayo, the better. I don’t bother with anything like Olive Oil or avocado specialty mayo, for instance.

    Also, while I’m not anti-Miracle Whip in general, I prefer to use actual mayo for Dynamite Sauce.

    Sriracha Sauce

    Sriracha Sauce is a popular garlic-chili condiment, made from chili peppers, garlic, vinegar, sugar, and salt. You’ve likely seen a bottle of it on tables at Vietnamese restaurants.

    Sriracha is the standard sauce used to bring the flavour and heat to Dynamite sauce, but feel free to branch out a bit if you’d like - or If you don’t have sriracha on hand.

    I’m a big fan of Jeow sauce, which also makes a great spicy mayo. In this case, you may want to consider the rolls you’ll be serving it on, as the flavour isn’t quite as “neutral” as sriracha. It’s got a lot more umami, some fish sauce, mushrooms, etc. Potent, too!

    Sambal Oelek is another possible substitution. It’s basically the Indonesian analog to sriracha, so substitutes very cleanly - it has the same “neutrality” as Sriracha when it comes to pairing it with rolls.

    Close up image of a small plate of sushi, with creamy pink sauce drizzled across it. There is a bottle of the pink sauce - Dynamite Sauce for Sushi - behind the plate. This is one of 3 Sushi Sauce Recipes on this post.

    Dynamite Sauce Recipe

    Close up image of a small plate of sushi, with creamy pink sauce drizzled across it. There is a bottle of the pink sauce - Dynamite Sauce for Sushi - behind the plate. This is one of 3 Sushi Sauce Recipes on this post.
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe Save Recipe
    4.55 from 11 votes

    Dynamite Sauce for Sushi

    Dynamite Sauce is a popular sauce to drizzle over sushi... and it's super easy to make!
    Prep Time2 mins
    Total Time2 mins
    Course: Condiment
    Cuisine: Sushi
    Servings: 6 rolls - ½ cup.
    Calories: 127kcal
    Author: Marie Porter

    Equipment

    Plastic Squeeze Bottles

    Ingredients

    • ½ cup Mayonnaise
    • 2 Tbsp+ Sriracha

    Instructions

    • Whisk together ingredients until well combined and uniform.
    • Taste, add more Sriracha if you like.
    • Chill until you’re ready to use it.
    • To serve, spoon sauce into a pastry bag or a sauce bottle (pictured). Cut the tip off the pastry bag (if applicable), squeeze sauce over prepared sushi, as desired.

    Notes

    This is a very versatile sauce. It’s a great drizzle for “spicy” rolls (and can be used to mix in with fish to make spicy filling), but is also great to give a kick to any roll

    Nutrition

    Calories: 127kcal | Carbohydrates: 1g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 8mg | Sodium: 249mg | Potassium: 7mg | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 12IU | Vitamin C: 4mg | Iron: 1mg

    What is Mango Sauce?

    Not every sushi restaurant uses a mango sauce, but when they do... it’s a thing of beauty!

    This sauce is brightly flavoured - and coloured - and brings a burst of sweet fruit flavour to any roll it’s used on. We especially love this one on tuna rolls, tuna avocado rolls, most vegetable based rolls, and most crab based rolls.

    Mango Sauce Ingredients

    Mango

    Use a fresh, ripe mango that’s in good shape. You want it good and juicy, but not bruised or browning yet.

    Rice Vinegar

    Rice vinegar brings the tartness to the sauce, and balances off against the sugar and mango.

    Close up image of a small plate of sushi, with yellow sauce drizzled across it. There is a bottle of yellow sauce - Mango Sauce for Sushi - behind the plate. This is one of 3 Sushi Sauce Recipes on this post.

    Sugar

    While mango is sweet on its own, it does need a bit of help from added sugar, for this sauce. This also forms a bit of the body of the sauce

    Vegetable Oil

    Vegetable oil is there to help form the body of the sauce - it’s there to help with the texture, and doesn’t really contribute to flavour at all.

    Close up image of a small plate of sushi, with yellow sauce drizzled across it. There is a bottle of yellow sauce - Mango Sauce for Sushi - behind the plate. This is one of 3 Sushi Sauce Recipes on this post.

    Mango Sauce Recipe

    Close up image of a small plate of sushi, with yellow sauce drizzled across it. There is a bottle of yellow sauce - Mango Sauce for Sushi - behind the plate. This is one of 3 Sushi Sauce Recipes on this post.
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe Save Recipe
    4.39 from 13 votes

    Mango Sauce for Sushi

    Mango sauce is a sweet, a bit sour, and perfect on many types of sushi. We love it on tuna and avocado based rolls in particular!
    Prep Time5 mins
    Cook Time5 mins
    Cooling time5 mins
    Total Time15 mins
    Course: Condiment
    Cuisine: Sushi
    Servings: 12 rolls / 1 cup
    Calories: 53kcal
    Author: Marie Porter

    Equipment

    Plastic Squeeze Bottles

    Ingredients

    • ⅓ cup Rice Vinegar
    • ⅓ cup Granulated Sugar
    • ½ teaspoon Salt
    • 1 Large Ripe Mango
    • 2 tablespoon Vegetable Oil

    Instructions

    • In a small saucepan, whisk together vinegar, sugar, and salt.
    • Bring just to a simmer over medium heat, whisking constantly until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat, cool to room temperature.
    • Peel and seed the mango. Chop mango flesh into chunks, place into a blender with cooled vinegar-sugar mixture and vegetable oil.
    • Blitz until very smooth.
    • Transfer sauce to serving container, cover and, chill until you’re ready to use it.
    • To serve, spoon sauce into a pastry bag or a sauce bottle (pictured). Cut the tip off the pastry bag (if applicable), squeeze sauce over prepared sushi, as desired.

    Video

    Notes

    We love this one over tuna based rolls and vegetable based rolls in particular

    Nutrition

    Calories: 53kcal | Carbohydrates: 8g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 2g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Sodium: 97mg | Potassium: 29mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 187IU | Vitamin C: 6mg | Calcium: 2mg | Iron: 1mg

    Close up image of 3 bottles of sauce - one yellow, one brown, and one pink. In front of the bottles is a plate of sushi, with the 3 colours of sauce drizzled across the sushi in squiggles

    Related posts:

    A small sushi cake. Layers of rice and fish in the form of a birthday cake. DIY Sushi Birthday Cake! A bowl of dill pickle dip, surrounded with chips, pretzels, and cut veggies. Dill Pickle Dip Toum - Lebanese Garlic Dip [Paleo] A close up view of a chunky roasted corn salsa verde - a green salsa with yellow corn and red peppers throughout. Roasted Corn Salsa Verde for Canning
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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Adelaide Dupont

      5 stars
      I had never thought of sriracha as neutral in the context of sauces.

      All three recipes are great especially the mango.

      Reply

    2. Teresa

      5 stars
      How long will this sauce last?

      Reply

      • Marie Porter

        At least a week, probably 2.

        Reply

    3. Lisa

      Sometimes the spicy mayo has a sweet taste. What is used to sweeten it?

      Reply

      • Marie Porter

        I've never come across a sweet one. If I were to sweeten this, I'd probably go with a small - very small - amount of honey.

        Reply

        • Lilith

          It is preferable to find recipes listed at the beginning of a blog.
          That way people can recieve what they came for..
          Recipes..
          A long personal post that one has to wade through to get to recipes, in this case exceedingly simple recipes in an exceedingly long personal post is tiring to wade through..
          No offense intended..
          You go girl!!
          Just some needed feedback as many bloggers do this..
          And many readers aren't into it as much as the poster is..

          Reply

          • Marie Porter

            Hi Lilith,

            As a blogger - and one who lost my entire source of income when Covid hit - it's preferable (to me!) that I'm paid for my work 🙂

            Very few food bloggers are in a position to donate their time and cover all the expenses involved with running a food blog, from hosting and related costs, to food, equipment, and more.

            In addition to that, Google has many things that it takes into consideration for indexing posts.

            I'm sure very few of us are "into" writing long posts, however between satisfying Google AND being able to earn an income through the ad revenue, we don't have much say in the matter.

            If you are enjoying the benefit of free access to a blogger's work - and their monetary investment in making it available to you - please take the two seconds to scroll to that free content, supporting the blogger so they can continue to do so 🙂

            Reply

    4. Jenny

      Wonderful recipes! Just what I was looking for! Thank you so much and appreciate the simplicity of the recipes 🙂

      Reply

      • Jenny

        P.s. love how you broke everything down and explained each ingredient and it’s use in the recipes!

        Reply

    5. Alexandra

      would it work to use honey, coconut sugar, (or something else?) in place of granulated sugar?
      I'm excited to try these sauces!

      Reply

      • Marie Porter

        Honey would work best of those options!

        Reply

    6. Jy Heslop

      how long do each of these sauces last when kept in the fridge in a squeezy bottle

      Reply

      • Marie Porter

        Dynamite Sauce depends on the expiry date of the mayo used.
        Mango and eel should be good for a couple of weeks.

        Reply

    7. Crystal

      5 stars
      Do you have a recipe for the sushi rolls that are presented with the eel sauce? They look delicious in the pictures.. can’t take my eyes off them.

      Reply

      • Marie Porter

        Not a recipe so much as just what we put in them. It was fried shrimp, crab stick, and avocado slices!

        Reply

    8. Crystal

      i think the fried shrimp is probably what caught my eye lol. thanks so much.

      Reply

    9. Na

      Some Soy sauce is not vegan fyi ; )
      But I look forward to trying these

      Reply

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