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Spinach with Ground Sesame Dressing

By NicklausWritten

Make Japanese spinach goma-ae with ground toasted sesame, a brief attended blanch and a thorough squeeze before dressing. Includes a complete cooking card.

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Recipe

Total time
About 20 minutes
Method
Blanch
Difficulty
Easy
Allergens
Sesame · Soy · Wheat in regular soy sauce

4 small side portions

Allow about 20 minutes, depending on washing and how quickly your pot boils. Contains sesame and soy; regular soy sauce also contains wheat.

Equipment: Large pot, tongs or a slotted spoon, bowl of ice water, colander, clean cutting board and knife, measuring spoons, mortar and pestle or a clean spice grinder, mixing bowl.

Ingredients

  • 225 g fresh spinach with tender stems, roots trimmed away
  • 3 tablespoons toasted white sesame seeds
  • 1 tablespoon regular soy sauce
  • 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
  • Water for washing and boiling, plus cold water and ice for cooling

Method

  1. Wash the spinach and prepare the cooling bowl

    Wash hands with soap for 20 seconds. Remove damaged leaves and rinse spinach thoroughly under running water, opening the stems to release grit; do not use soap on the greens. Set a bowl of ice water beside the stove and have a colander ready.

    Convert a measurement for this step

  2. Grind and mix the dressing

    Crush the toasted sesame seeds in a mortar, or pulse briefly in a clean spice grinder, until mostly broken into coarse crumbs. Stop before they become a smooth paste. Mix with soy sauce and sugar in a bowl large enough to hold the cooked spinach.

    Convert a measurement for this step

  3. Blanch while watching the leaves and stems

    Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Using tongs, lower the stem ends in first for about 20 seconds, then submerge the leaves. Cook for roughly another 30–45 seconds, until the leaves have wilted and the stems are tender enough to bite. Check sooner for very tender leaves and continue briefly if stems remain tough. Stay at the stove; this short blanch is attended work.

    Convert a measurement for this step

  4. Cool, drain and cut

    Turn off the burner and transfer the spinach into the ice water with tongs or a slotted spoon. As soon as it is cool enough to handle, drain it. With clean hands, squeeze small handfuls to remove excess water without wringing them to pulp. Cut into bite-size lengths of about 3 cm and loosen the compressed greens.

    Convert a measurement for this step

  5. Dress and serve

    Toss the loosened spinach with the sesame dressing until evenly coated. Divide among four small side bowls. Serve now or refrigerate promptly in a covered container at 40°F (4°C) or below and use within 2–3 days. Refrigerate within two hours of cooking, or one hour above 90°F (32°C); discard portions left out longer.

    Convert a measurement for this step
Watercolor illustration of chopped cooked spinach coated in ground sesame in a ceramic bowl, beside a mortar of sesame seeds
Spinach with ground sesame dressing. Serving illustration.

Ground sesame gives a small bowl of spinach a surprisingly substantial coating. The greens stay tender, the dressing catches between the leaves, and a few unbroken seeds add texture. This Japanese side, goma-ae, fits beside rice and a main dish without needing another sauce at the table.

The spinach shrinks considerably, so think of these as four small accompaniments. Serve it with teriyaki salmon or ginger-scallion tofu and give each dish its own space on the plate.

A coarse dressing that stays with the greens

Start with toasted sesame seeds and break most of them before adding the liquid. A mortar gives you control; a spice grinder needs only brief pulses. You want texture rather than a smooth nut butter. Marc Matsumoto’s goma-ae method describes this coarse grind and the importance of removing excess water from the spinach.

There is no sesame oil in this card. Oil would change the dressing without supplying the ground seeds that make it cling. If sesame is an allergen for someone eating, choose another side rather than assuming a different sesame product is suitable. Soy sauce brings soy and usually wheat; read the bottle if either matters for the meal.

Let the stems decide when to lift

Buy fresh spinach with sound leaves and tender stems. A bunch with thicker stems needs those ends in the water before the leafy tops. Have the cooling bowl ready before you begin: this is a quick transfer, not a moment to search for ice while the spinach keeps cooking.

After cooling, squeeze away the water that would thin the dressing. Open the compressed handfuls before tossing so the sesame mixture reaches more than the outside of a tight bundle. The finished bowl should hold dressed greens, without a pool of blanching water underneath.

This card draws on Namiko Hirasawa Chen's spinach gomaae and Marc Matsumoto's method linked above. It uses a little less sugar than Chen's version and starts with already toasted seeds. The roughly 20-minute allowance is a planning estimate; leaf and stem tenderness decide the end of the blanch.

Make ahead in the refrigerator

Follow FDA’s produce-washing guidance: clean hands, running water and no soap on the spinach. Use clean utensils again after washing and cooking.

For a later meal, pack the dressed spinach into a covered container and refrigerate it promptly. Serve cold or take out only what you will eat straight away. Maryland Extension’s food-safety guidance sets a two-hour limit outside refrigeration, shortened to one hour above 90°F. A lunch box needs a cold pack; the sesame dressing does not preserve the greens at room temperature.

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