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Yum Yum Sauce, the name says it all, a Japanese steak house mayo based sauce that is amazing. This popular sauce is light, sweet and tangy!
Popular sauces that are made from scratch are so easy and so much better. Think homemade Famous Fry Sauce, Tzatziki Sauce and Homemade Cheese Sauce.
Homemade Yum Yum Sauce
Yum Yum Sauce is a staple at Japanese Hibachi restaurants, although it’s not something you’d find handedly in Japan. It’s an North American thing, but oh is it good. Hibachi is a method of cooking meat, vegetables and seafood on a high heat metal cooking plate. This sauce is almost always on the table, with your meal.
This is so easy and simple to make you’ll wonder why you’ve waited so long to try it. You can find Yum Yum Sauce sold at stores, but this is so much easier and so much better!
How to Make Yum Yum Sauce Ingredients
Simple ingredients but big on flavor.
- Mayo: The creamy base
- Rice Vinegar: Adds a zing of deliciousness but is a MUST for that added touch in this Yum Yum Sauce
- Tomato Paste: Do not substitute this with ketchup. Big no no.
- Paprika: There are a range of flavors in paprika stick to the sweet not smoky ones
- Garlic Powder: Flavor enhancer
- Sugar: Counter acts the acid in the tomato paste and binds everything together.
- Butter: May sound weird but it’s a crucial part of the yum yum
- Salt and Pepper: Add to taste
- Water: Thins the sauce to the right consistency.
Make it Yummy!
This must have sauce is so simple to make you won’t have to go to a Japanese Steak house to get it!
- Mix: In a small bowl whisk all the ingredients but the water together. Then thin with the water to desired consistency.
How to Use Yum Yum Sauce
Similar to what many call “Fry Sauce” but different, this sauce can be used in a variety of ways. It’s so versatile, it should be a staple in your fridge for sure.
- As a dipping sauce for shrimp
- Drizzled over fried rice and noodles
- With grilled chicken, meat and seafood
- Slathered on hamburger and hot dog buns
- With French fries and sweet potato fries
- As a dipping sauce for potstickers and wontons
- As a vegetable dip
- With sushi and rice balls
- In pasta salads
- In potato salads
- As a salad dressing
- On baked potatoes
Tips and Storing Sauce
- Variety: This is definitely a great base sauce, if you need to add more or less seasoning to your liking go for it. Add some cayenne, a splash of vinegar or extra pepper. You decide.
- Let it set: The longer the sauce sits before you use it the better, if you can plan to make a day ahead. It gives time for the flavors to meld.
- Store: This is best kept in the fridge for up to 10 days. However this is so easy to make and so good, you can make small batches and make it fresh every time you need it.
Recipes to Have with Yum Yum Sauce
- Garlic Ranch Chicken Skewers
- THE BEST Grilled Shrimp
- Cashew Chicken Stir Fry
- Better than Takeout Chicken Fried Rice
- Crispy Onion Rings
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Yum Yum Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 2 Tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 Tablespoon rice vinegar
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 Tablespoon Sugar
- 1 Tablespoon Melted Butter
- salt and pepper
- 2-3 Tablespoons water
Instructions
- In a small bowl whisk the mayonnaise, rice vinegar, tomato paste, paprika, garlic powder, sugar, butter and salt and pepper.
- Add water as needed to get the desired consistency.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Shocked when I saw the comments were so bad. I kept the proportions but eyeballed everything. You HAVE to let this rest or it tastes really weird. Leave overnight in the fridge, and it’s the closest thing I’ve had to restaurant shrimp sauce.
I also used half and half kewpie and Duke’s mayonnaise.
This came out amazing. Idk what that other comment is talking about. It’s a faint pink like it’s supposed to be. Also if you use kewpie mayo it bumps it up even more. Thanks for the recipe!
This ain’t it. Waaaay too much tomato paste in this recipe. It came out awful until I doubled the mayo and added soy sauce. Still nowhere near the steak house yumyum sauce. But now I have a ton of this garbage and wasted ingredients. I will make due.
Absolutely disgusting. Came out super red and the flavor is just not right at all. Recipes that use ketchup are ten times better
DO NOT MAKE THIS. It’s a literal waste of ingredients
Wasn’t even CLOSE to yum yum sauce
I followed the recipe and eyeball everything lol and I added a lil cayenne pepper and Cajun seasonings just a lil and I must say that this was a hit. The type of mayo makes a difference too… I would not recommend Kraft at all Dukes or McCormick… anyway thanks for this recipe
Make this recipe then add 1 teaspoon lemon juice and 1 tablespoon mirin. You’re welcome
Thanks for the tip!
All i taste is tomato paste. wasted all my mayonnaise on this
Love the recipe! Tried it out with just 1 tablespoon of water and it was a big hit. I’m curious though, many recipes include onion powder while yours doesn’t – is there a reason for that?
Made it the way it supposed to turn out…doesn’t look right and tastes really weird. Would not recommend again.
No, the yum-yum has egg yolks in it, this recipe is no good.
Mayonnaise has egg in it, silly.