← Nouns Cooking · Japanese

Ingredients

• 300 g spinach with stems, washed
• 1 pinch Salt
• 4 tbsp white sesame seeds
• 1 tbsp Sugar
• 1½ tbsp Soy sauce
• 1 tsp Mirin (optional)
• 1 tsp Water

Method

1. Toast the sesame seeds in a dry pan over medium-low heat, shaking often, for 2–3 min until golden and starting to pop. Keep 1 tsp aside and grind the rest in a mortar (or spice grinder) until roughly crushed and fragrant.
2. Stir the sugar, soy sauce, mirin and water into the ground sesame to make a thick dressing.
3. Bring a pan of water to the boil with the salt. Add the spinach, stems first, and cook for 30 seconds to 1 minute until just wilted. Plunge into cold water to stop the cooking.
4. Drain, gather the spinach into a log and squeeze out as much water as you can. Cut into 4 cm lengths.
5. Toss the spinach with the dressing just before serving and sprinkle with the reserved seeds.

Tips

• Contains sesame and soy (soy sauce has wheat; use tamari for gluten-free).
• Green beans, broccoli or asparagus are delicious with the same dressing.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Chopstick Chronicles Japanese Taste