Our most commonly requested recipe is our house salad dressing. We’ve had many guests ask if they could buy some or if we could bottle it for local stores. It’s quite easy to make, so here it is.

1 cup soy sauce
1 cup rice vinegar
½ cup sugar
2 T sesame oil
1 scallion, finely minced
1 T toasted sesame seeds
1 t chili powder

Whisk all ingredients in a bowl until well blended and serve.

Ginger Tea

Mrs. Ko served this ginger tea from the early days of Kana. It’s the only recipe we continue to use unaltered. Our staff drinks gallons of it in the winter – it’s great for fighting a cold.

1 gallon water
1 cup sliced ginger
1 cup dried dates
4 red delicious apples, sliced

Place all ingredients in a large pot and let simmer for 3 hours. Strain and serve hot or iced. This tea is especially good with honey and lemon.

Coconut-Curry Soup

Whenever we take this soup off the menu to try a different one, we invariably upset guests and receive pleas to bring it back. It’s a great soup with complex flavors of lemongrass, kaffir lime and green curry.

1 t minced garlic
1 stalk lemongrass, cut into 3 inch sections, bruised with back of knife
2 shallots, sliced
4 kaffir lime leaves (or substitute zest of 1 lime)
1 T green curry paste
1 cup sliced shiitake mushrooms

1 can coconut milk (14 oz)
2 quarts water

3 cups total – ½ inch dice of butternut squash, potato and/or sweet potato
¼ cup fish sauce
2 T palm sugar (or substitute brown sugar)

1. Combine first set of ingredients in a large pot with a little oil; sauté to brown a little
2. Add coconut milk and water; bring to boil
3. Add remaining ingredients; simmer until vegetables are done
4. Remove kaffir lime leaves and lemongrass
5. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary: if it tastes too bland, add more fish sauce and a little bit of curry paste; if it tastes too spicy or salty, add a little more water and sugar