Spinach goma-ae
Local name : ほうれん草の胡麻和え
Blanched, well-squeezed spinach dressed in a toasted sesame paste, lightly sweetened and salted with soy sauce.
Photo : Alice Seba · CC BY 2.0
- Prep
- 10 min
- Cook
- 5 min
- Total
- 15 min
- Serves
- 4
- Difficulty
- Easy
Method
- Wash the spinach and keep it in bunches with the stems lined up, which makes the final slicing easy.
- Dip the stems into boiling salted water for 20 seconds, then lay the leaves in and give them 30 seconds more.
- Drain and cool at once in iced water, then squeeze the spinach between your hands into a tight log.
- Cut the log into 4 cm lengths and tease them apart in a bowl.
- Toast the sesame seeds in a dry pan for 3 minutes over medium heat, shaking, until golden and jumping.
- Grind them in a mortar, leaving a third whole, then mix with the soy sauce, sugar, mirin and salt.
- Coat the spinach in the dressing just before serving, at room temperature, in small portions.
Goma-ae belongs to the little side dishes lined up beside rice. Squeeze the spinach properly: any water left behind will thin the dressing and dull the whole thing.
