I like to put it on salads for a bit of extra flavour but I was wondering if I'm missing some other great uses for it. I wouldn't know what to cook with it as it tends to have quite a strong flavour and overpowers things fairly easily but I'd definitely like to be able to use it for more things. Is there anything specific you'd recommend I try it with?
It's almost never used as a cooking oil because of its strong, overwhelming flavor as you have mentioned. It's often used as an additional oil to add another dimension to a dish before serving. It's heavenly when drizzled on top of a stir-fried dish or on fried rice. Don't overdo it though.
I like to add it to noodles and rice instead of soy sauce, but usually after cooking rather than cooking with it. You can also use it to flavor fried potatoes and onions. I use toasted sesame oil which you can use as a dressing in salads, or on leftover pasta instead of a sauce. It's also nice as a dip for dumplings, tempura or sushi.
Just when I make Chinese dishes -- I use it in my marinades, as well as in my sauces and stir-fryes... also in ramen miso soups, sometimes. Never too much, you can feel it so strong!
I actually love cooking stir-fries with it, but I do tend like my flavors on the strong side so your mileage may vary. And it works better with some things than others. Chicken is usually a good go-to, and certain veggies like snap peas, broccoli, and eggplant. If you’re not allergic/sensitive to soy, you can mix it with soy sauce, sugar, and rice vinegar for a delicious sauce. There are quite a few similar recipes online with different ingredient additions as well.
I only usually use sesame oil as the last topping before I serve the food. What I do is I drizzle a little bit on, turn the flames off and just kinda stir it all together and let the sesame oil mix with the food before I serve it. It's great just like that so I haven't tried it with anything else!
I never realized how strong it was until I accidentally over did it a few times when making some Chinese recipes. It's sort of strange because it didn't seem strong smelling to me at all when I first opened the bottle and got a whiff of it, but after putting a few drops of it in my food, the smell crept up on me and it overpowered everything. I really can't think of any uses for it outside of Asian dishes to be honest. I may put a drop of it or two if I am making some sort of brown sauce from scratch instead of buying the pre-made bottled Chinese stir fry sauces and marinades. I've also used it in Thai dishes too in small amounts along with some fish sauce (which is also really strong). I actually threw my most recent bottle of it out, because instead of a drip spout, it came with a wide open pour spout and I was constantly forgetting that and dumping way too much into my dishes while cooking and ruining the whole thing. I figured I already lost enough food that I had to throw out, that I wouldn't miss throwing out that one bottle of it, lol.
Sesame oil is meant to be one of lighter oils, so in the past I've drizzled it on salads and used it to make stir fries. I also like to use it to toss vegetables in. I only bought it once and although I liked it, I went back to using olive oil. I didn't see that it did anything that olive oil couldn't. I've also heard that it's good for massage and hair. But I've not tried to use it this way.
I use it when frying rice entrees, dumplings and stir-fry dishes. I like the taste and the fact it burns slowly. Not long ago, I learned about chili sesame oil. Nice if you like a little heat.
