Japanese salad dressings like this ginger, onion and carrot dressing are unique in that they often involve a puree of vegetables and other ingredients to create a fresh and extremely flavorful dressing. They are referred to as wafu dressing, which translates to "Japanese-style dressing. "Two popular bases for homemade japanese salad dressing include a soy sauce-based dressing and a tomato paste based dressing. Soy sauce based salad dressings tends to feel lighter versus tomato paste based dressings, as the latter tends to naturally thicken the dressing and add a layer of richness that is otherwise lacking with soy sauce-based dressings.