Spinach with sesame dressing (Goma ae)

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Hourensou no goma ae (ほうれん草のごま和え)

hourensou = spinach goma = sesame ae = mix,toss

The concept of the dish ”Goma-ae” is to mix seasonal vegetables with fragrant sesame seeds to make them delicious.

It is an essential side dish in Japanese home cooking.

Leafy vegetables such as spinach, mustard spinach, and garland chrysanthemum are all suitable for goma ae. Seasonal vegetables such as okra, string bean and burdock can also be used.

Choose the best way to cut and boil each vegetable. It’s a simple dish, but with a little ingenuity it becomes even tastier.

One of the key points when making spinach gomaae is to boil the spinach in salted water.

Spinach contains oxalic acid (lye), so it is not recommended to eat it raw. Oxalic acid binds with calcium and prevents it from being absorbed.

Adding salt to the water when boiling spinach helps dissolve the oxalic acid.

The green color of green-yellow vegetables is due to chlorophyll. When chlorophyll is heated or the pH level drops, it turns into pheophytin and turns black.

Vegetables that contain chlorophyll should be boiled briefly in salted water and then immediately cooled in cold water.

This will prevent the chlorophyll from changing and will help preserve their beautiful green color.

Remove the spinach from the cold water and wipe it dry to avoid diluting the flavor of the sauce.

Also, vinegar, soy sauce, miso, mirin, ketchup, etc. have a pH of 5.5 or less, so if you leave vegetables containing chlorophyll such as spinach in the seasoning for a long time, the color will deteriorate.

For this reason, it is best to mix the ingredients and seasonings in dishes such as “ohitashi” and “goma ae” just before eating. This also helps prevent moisture from leaking from the vegetables.

Additional information：If you are using okra or broccoli, boil it in hot water for about 2 minutes and then drain it in a colander to cool. If you soak it in water, the moisture will not evaporate and it will end up watery. Burdock discolors easily, so it is a good idea to add a little vinegar to the water you boil it in.

NUTRITION FACTS

33 kcal Protein 2.6 g Fat 1.4 g Carb 4.4 g Salt Equivalent 0.6 g

INGREDIENTS (3SERVINGS)

• Spinach (250g)
• Salt (4g)
• White sesame (6g)
• ☆Soy sauce (10g)
• ☆Mirin (5g)
• ☆Dashi stock granules (1g)
• ☆Hot water (15g)

If possible, mix roasted and ground sesame seeds together. The flavor of the ground sesame seeds and the texture of the roasted sesame seeds make it more delicious.

COOKING INSTRUCTIONS

1. Wash the spinach. There may be sand in the roots, so wash them carefully.
2. Boil water.
3. Add salt and spinach to the boiling water.
4. After about 2 minutes, remove the spinach from the pot and place in ice water.
5. Squeeze the water out of the spinach and cut it into pieces about 5 cm long.
6. Mix soy sauce, mirin, dashi stock granules, and hot water.
7. Toss the spinach, seasonings, and sesame just before serving.

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