The most common aemono (dressed salads) are: shira-ae, the tofu-based dressing that we looked at last week; goma-ae, a simple sesame dressing; and finally miso-ae, miso dressing. I presented a version of miso-ae — vinegared and with mustard — when I wrote about the little firefly-like hotaru-ika squid this past spring (see The Japan Times, March 24, 2002).
Another well-loved but not commonly seen aemono, which I have written about on these pages, is kinome-ae, a dressing made with the delicate first leaves of the sansho (Japanese prickly ash) tree and fortified with a bit of taki-miso.
Learning these few basic aemono will open up your washoku repertoire to many possibilities, for as the seasons change the vegetables and proteins used in the salads may be varied. Shira-ae is a staple at the shojin vegetarian table and because of that usually just vegetables are used in this salad. For a textural variation konnyaku may be used, as in last week's recipe.