Tropics Dressing

Tropics Dressing is a "Made in Hawaii" french style dressing.

From what I understand this dressing was named after the original Tropics restaurant in Hawaii back in the 1960's and could possibly be the first time Hawaiians tasted french dressing.

This easy blender dressing is sure to please with its tangy sweet flavor.  I enjoy it drizzled over avocado slices, chicken salad, or tuna sandwiches. You can also mix in a little mayonnaise to make it more of a creamy french.

One of the most memorable Tropics dressing stories I have is when I was first dating Kono (back in the 80's).  He and his buddies fired up the hibatchi and proceeded to confidently burn the chicken charring it until it was almost black.

Well little did I know that this wasn't the first time they made this dish and that they were right on track when it comes to making "Burn the House Down Chicken".  Yup, burnt chicken basted with Tropics dressing and served with a little on the side for dipping.  Oh the things we cooked up with pride in our 20s...

So with that story told, this dressing makes for a great basting glaze and dipping sauce for chicken.  But its not necessary to cook it "Burn the House Down" style.  Create your own "burn" by stirring in as little or as much Sriracha "rooster" sauce as you can handle, to make a crazy delicious spicy version for chicken.

Even though we don't; my youngest daughter calls this dressing burn the house down sauce, not tropics.

Tropics Dressing (you will need a blender to make this)

1 clove garlic, smashed

1 slice onion, roughly chopped

1 cup seasoned rice vinegar (in the Asian section)

1 cup ketchup

1/4 cup sugar

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. lemon juice, fresh

1 tsp. worcestershire sauce

1 tsp. dry mustard, Coleman’s

1 cup salad oil, ADD LAST

Place garlic and onion in the bottom of the blender. Then add all other ingredients except the oil.

Cover and start the blender; mix ingredients well, making sure that onions and garlic are chopped fine. 

While the blender is on; slowly add the oil through the opening in the cover so the dressing will emulsify and won’t separate later.