Aemono is a Japanese cooking term that can refer either to an uncooked sauce used as a salad dressing, or to the salad itself made with it.
As a dressing, it’s a thick dressing (often based on puréed tofu) to coat the food items in a salad.
When used to refer to the entire salad itself, it’s a small salad often made of seasonal items with a dressing.
The salad can be served:
- before or after a meal;
- as a side dish to highlight the taste of the main dish;
- occasionally, as a main dish.
Aemono is different from “Sunomono” in that Sunomono is a salad served with a thin dressing.
Language Notes
Aemono literally means “dressed foods”.