Post #354536 by kapu_kai_son on Sat, Jan 12, 2008 4:55 PM

Hi all. We messed around with the salad dressing and think we've hit the right combo of ingredients. My dad was the only one to make this dressing and he never wrote it down. Once, a long time ago, my wife made it with him and jotted some notes down that are now long lost. As far as we can tell, this was the house dressing in the dining room at the Kapu Kai so give it a try.

1 Clove garlic
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup white vinegar
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp white pepper
1 tsp garlic salt
1 pinch Ajinomoto (Mono Sodium Glutamate)
1/2 cup vegetable oil

In the old days, my dad would throw the garlic in the blender and it would get chopped up when everything combined. Today, I put the garlic through a garlic press first. Combine all the ingredients except the oil in a blender. Pulse to puree the garlic. Finally, drizzle in the oil to make the dressing.

Couple of notes: When I say a pinch of MSG I really mean it. We're talking less than 1/8 of a teaspoon here. Nothing can replace or replicate the sweet/sour/salty taste of MSG so if a little doesn't bother you, try it this way first. If you are sensitive to this, replace the pinch of MSG with 1/4 to 1/2 tsp of kosher salt.

There you have it! This recipe has never been written down before and many people used to tell my dad he should bottle it and sell it. He always refused because of the MSG. If someone starts making a million bucks on Kapu Kai salad dressing, I want my cut!