Yum Yum Sauce

Published by Fork Around & Find Out Kitchen — presented in the Lila editorial voice. Editorial standards

Quick Answer

Yum Yum Sauce whips mayonnaise with tomato paste, melted butter, paprika, and a touch of sugar into the pale-pink hibachi dip that outshines the steak.

Jump to Recipe

Yum yum sauce is pale pink, mildly sweet, creamy, and somehow capable of making a pile of fried rice feel like it has been waiting its entire life for this exact condiment. The base is mayonnaise with tomato paste, melted butter, sugar, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, water, and optional cayenne.

The surprise is that mixing it is the easy part; waiting is the actual recipe. Whisk until the sauce is completely smooth, thin it a tablespoon at a time until it pours but still coats a spoon, then refrigerate it for at least four hours and preferably overnight. That rest gives the dry spices time to hydrate and the tomato paste time to stop tasting separate from the mayonnaise. Freshly mixed yum yum sauce tastes like ingredients. Rested yum yum sauce tastes like the restaurant bottle you were trying to recreate in the first place. Patience: occasionally useful, annoyingly effective.

Prep10 minutes

Cookno cooking

Total10 minutes plus overnight rest

Servesabout 1 cup

DifficultyEasy

Ingredients

Servings

1 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
3/4 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
2 to 3 tablespoons water
Pinch of cayenne, optional

Instructions

1Whisk the mayonnaise, tomato paste, melted butter, sugar, paprika, garlic powder, and onion powder in a bowl until completely smooth and evenly pink.
2Whisk in the water one tablespoon at a time until the sauce is pourable but still coats a spoon — hibachi-house texture, not mayo texture.
3Add the cayenne if you want a whisper of heat. Taste and adjust the sugar by a pinch if the tomato paste reads too sharp.
4Cover and refrigerate overnight, or at least 4 hours. This rest is not optional — it is what turns pink mayo into yum yum sauce.

Nutrition Information

Estimated per serving: 2 tablespoons (about 8 servings in the batch).

200Calories

0 gProtein

1 gCarbohydrates

22 gTotal Fat

4 gSaturated Fat

0 gFiber

1 gTotal Sugars

180 mgSodium

15 mgCholesterol

Estimated from the ingredients and quantities in this recipe using standard food-composition values. Brand choices, trimming, cooking loss, optional ingredients, and actual portion size can change the numbers. How we calculate nutrition estimates.

Pro Tips

Make it the night before. Yum yum sauce needs 8 hours minimum for the tomato paste and spices to melt into the mayo — this is the single non-negotiable step.
Use tomato paste, not ketchup. Paste brings color and body without vinegar; ketchup makes it taste like fry sauce wearing a costume.
Thin it with water until it pours slowly off a spoon. The restaurant version is drizzleable, and the water also mellows the raw mayo taste.

Substitutions

tomato paste → 1 tablespoon ketchup Works in a pinch — cut the sugar in half since ketchup brings its own.

granulated sugar → mirin, 2 teaspoons A hibachi-authentic touch that adds sweetness with a little shine; reduce the water slightly.

paprika → smoked paprika Not traditional, but it adds a subtle grilled note that plays well with steak and shrimp.

Storage Instructions

Store covered in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. It thickens as it sits — whisk in a teaspoon of water to bring it back to drizzling consistency.

Make Ahead

This sauce is a make-ahead by design: it needs the overnight rest to taste right. Make it up to 3 days before you plan to serve it and it only gets better.

Freezing

Do not freeze it — the mayonnaise base separates when thawed and never comes back together smoothly. Make it fresh and let the fridge do the work.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I make this ahead of time?

This sauce is a make-ahead by design: it needs the overnight rest to taste right. Make it up to 3 days before you plan to serve it and it only gets better.

How do I store the leftovers?

Store covered in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. It thickens as it sits — whisk in a teaspoon of water to bring it back to drizzling consistency.

Can I freeze it?

Do not freeze it — the mayonnaise base separates when thawed and never comes back together smoothly. Make it fresh and let the fridge do the work.

Can I adjust it for what I have on hand?

Yes — yum yum sauce tolerates small adjustments well. The sugar, paprika, and water are all to-taste; the only fixed points are the mayo base and the overnight rest. Move everything else in half-teaspoon steps.

What's the most common mistake to avoid?

Make it the night before. Yum yum sauce needs 8 hours minimum for the tomato paste and spices to melt into the mayo — this is the single non-negotiable step.

How long does it take?

About 10 minutes plus overnight rest from start to finish, including no cooking of active cooking. The active work is 10 minutes of whisking — the rest is an overnight nap in the refrigerator that does the real flavor-building.