• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

The Japanese Kitchen

  • Home
  • About
  • Travel Japan
  • Recipes
  • Cooking Classes
  • Contact
You are here: Home / Recipes / Dressings and Sauces / Spinach with Sesame Sauce

Spinach with Sesame Sauce

June 1, 2020 by Benjamin and Koshiki Leave a Comment

Spinach with Sesame SauceThis dish is called Goma-ae in Japan, and a ubiquitous side dish often made with spinach or green beans. Goma means sesame seeds and “ae” means to toss or to dress something with.

Because this dish only calls for five ingredients, make sure each component is prepared carefully with love!  Make sure sesame seeds are well toasted and ground, spinach is not overcooked, and most of all, to squeeze excess water from the spinach. Take your time and you won’t be disappointed with the complex and earthly flavors of freshly ground sesame seeds, savory soy sauce and sweetened rice wine.

Keep the sauce and spinach separate, and they should keep well in the fridge for two days. Toss the sauce and spinach right before serving.

Print Pin

Spinach with Sesame Sauce

Spinach with Sesame Seeds
This dish is a ubiquitous side dish often made with spinach or green beans. Blanched spinach is tossed with sesame seeds and seasoning. Goma means sesame seeds and “ae” means to toss or to dress something with.  
Course Appetizer, Salad
Cuisine Japanese
Keyword goma-ae, kikkoman mirin, Salad, sesame seeds, soy sauce, spinach, vegetarian
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 9 minutes
Servings 3 people
Calories 139kcal
Cost $7.00

Equipment

  • Suribachi & Surikogi (Japanese style mortar and pestle)

Ingredients

  • 12 oz fresh spinach, trimmed and washed one bunch
  • 1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds natural
  • 2 tablespoon light soy sauce may use regular soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoon mirin Japanese sweet wine
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon sesame seeds, for garnish

Instructions

  • Gather ingredients.
    Spinach with Sesame Ingredients

Blanching the Spinach:

  • In a large saucepan, bring water to boil. Get a bowl of iced water and set it aside.  
  • Add spinach to boiling water for 15-20 seconds (do not overcook the spinach!). Using tongs or spider, scoop out all the spinach and drop them in the prepared bowl of iced water. Note: if using a smaller pot, blanch half of the spinach at a time. Wait until the water boils again and blanch the other half.  
    Spinach with Sesame Icebath
  • Squeeze water out of the spinach and cut them into one-inch length.  
    Spinach with Sesame Cutting

Making Sauce:

  • Grind 1/4 cup of toasted sesame seeds in a Japanese style mortar and pestle. Add sugar and grind for another couple of minutes until it almost resembles a paste.  
    Spinach with Sesame Grinding
  • Add mirin, light soy sauce, and mix well, scraping side with a rubber spatula. Note: never use metal on Suribachi as it will scratch the grids in the bowl.  
    Spinach with Sesame Sauce
  • Squeeze excess water one more time and using chopsticks, loosen the spinach. Add three-quarters of the sauce to the spinach and toss well. Taste and add more sauce if needed. Sprinkle sesame seeds and serve immediately.  
    Spinach with Sesame Tossing

Notes

Nutritional information is an estimate only. Please view our website policies for more information.

Nutrition

Calories: 139kcal | Carbohydrates: 16g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 848mg | Potassium: 717mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 10633IU | Vitamin C: 32mg | Calcium: 234mg | Iron: 5mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @TanpopoStudio or tag #TheJapaneseKitchen!
Get the latest recipes!

Filed Under: Dressings and Sauces, Recipes, Salads, Vegetables, Vegetarian Tagged With: mirin, sesame seeds, soy sauce, spinach, sugar

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

More Recipes

Chirashizushii Recipe

Chirashizushi

Recipe for Japanese Hamburgers

Aunt Ryoko’s Japanese Hamburger Steak (a.k.a. Hambagu)

dorayaki

Dorayaki: Japanese pancakes with red bean paste

Mabo-Tofu

Mabo-Tofu, Chinese Style Spicy Tofu and Pork

Previous Post: « Technique: Cutting Cucumber for Sushi Rolls
Next Post: Ponzu Sauce »

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Primary Sidebar

こんにちは!

A food blog brought to by Koshiki Yonemura. After almost two decades of running a restaurant in St. Paul with my husband, I now operate a boutique travel company, teach cooking classes and share recipes on this blog. Please leave a comment or send a message. I'd love to hear from you!

Bespoke Japan Trips. Tanpopo Journeys

Japan Custom Itinerary Service

Subscribe to the Japanese Kitchen

Get the latest recipes!

Cooking Supervisor and Taste Tester, Buttercup

Categories

Footer

Follow Us

A food blog by Tanpopo Studio LLC | Privacy Policy | | 2020 © All Rights Reserved.