1 tablespoon finely chopped onion
1 cup purchased or homemade mayonnaise
1/4 cup ketchup-style chili sauce or ketchup
4 teaspoons bottled (regular; not packed in beet juice) horseradish, or to taste
1 teaspoon hot sauce, preferably Frank's Red Hot Sauce
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon sweet paprika
Fine sea salt
In a mortar and pestle, mash the onion to create a paste, or use a large heavy knife to mince and mash the onion into a paste. Transfer the onion paste to a small bowl and whisk in the mayonnaise, chili sauce, horseradish, hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and sweet paprika. Season with fine sea salt, if desired. DO AHEAD: The dressing can be prepared ahead and refrigerated, in an airtight container, up to 2 weeks.
Russian dressing and Thousand Island dressing are often confused because both begin with a base of mayonnaise and ketchup or ketchup-style chili sauce, which results in a pink salad dressing. But where Thousand Island is a bit sweet and studded with pickle relish, Russian dressing is on the spicier side, with a hint of heat from horseradish and hot sauce.
YIELD: Yield: Makes about 1 1/4 cups ACTIVE TIME: 10 minutes TOTAL TIME: 10 minutes