The pale color of plain ponzu sauce is not great for adding color to food.

Ponzu is made by boiling mirin, rice vinegar, bonito flakes, seaweed (konbu). If you don’t have mirin (they sell it in most grocery stores in the asian section now), you can use a bit of sherry and sugar….

Fancier ponzu recipes online contain fish sauce and other more exotic ingredients, which might very well taste better. In which case, using items you are very likely to have on hand seems key.

Ponzu sauce is a traditional dipping sauce used in Japanese cuisine. It offers a complex but light flavor profile that features fruity sweetness, bitterness, and umami.Ponzu sauce has not always been the easiest thing to find outside of Japan, so there are quite a few improvised substitutes. The pale color of plain ponzu sauce is not great for adding color to food.

Ponzu sauce would not be a great substitute for dark soy sauce, which is usually used mainly to provide color to dishes. But for me, kitchen substitutions are mostly about the convenience of carrying on, when you have run out of an ingredient and forgot to buy more. I believe ponzu is mostly soy sauce, lemon or lime juice, and mirin (rice wine with sweetness).

Ponzu is made by boiling mirin, rice vinegar, bonito flakes, seaweed (konbu). Ponzu sauce is a Japanese seasoning sauce often served with sashimi, shabu-shabu, and other Japanese favorites.