Spinach in Sesame Sauce (Goma-ae)
A classic Japanese side dish — blanched spinach tossed in a nutty sesame-soy dressing with a touch of mirin and sugar. Goma-ae (胡麻和え) means 'sesame-dressed' and is one of the most fundamental techniques in Japanese home cooking. Served chilled as a cold appetizer or side dish.
Ingredients
- 200 gfresh spinach
- 1.5 tbspwhite sesame seeds
- 1 tbspsoy sauce
- 0.5 tspsugar
- 0.5 tspmirin
Method
- Blanch spinach in boiling water 30–40 seconds. Quickly transfer to cold water to stop cooking. Drain well and squeeze out excess moisture. Cut into 4–5 cm pieces.
- Toast sesame seeds in a dry pan until golden. Grind in a mortar or blender. Add soy sauce, sugar, and mirin. Mix well.
- Toss spinach with the sauce, mix gently. Chill before serving.
- Serve as a cold appetizer or side dish. Sprinkle with extra sesame seeds if desired.
FAQ
Goma-ae (胡麻和え) is a Japanese technique of dressed vegetables: blanched spinach mixed with a thick sesame sauce. It is not a salad in the Western sense — more of a chilled side dish or appetizer. Japanese cooking focuses on texture, flavor balance, and minimal heat treatment.
This is called shock cooling — it stops the cooking instantly. The spinach stays vivid green and keeps a firm texture. Without cold water it continues cooking from residual heat, turns dark and mushy.
Mirin is sweet rice wine. Substitute: a drop of rice vinegar plus a teaspoon of sugar. Or simply skip it — the sauce will still be delicious, just slightly less sweet and complex.
Yes, but squeeze out the water very thoroughly — frozen spinach contains a lot of moisture that dilutes the sauce. Thawed spinach is already blanched, so skip the blanching step entirely.
The sesame sauce works with any blanched vegetable: green beans, broccoli, asparagus, carrot. This is a universal Japanese dressing. The classic is spinach, but Japanese home cooks use it on almost any vegetable.
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Comments (1)
High heat and don't crowd the pan — these two rules make or break spinach in sesame sauce. Crowded vegetables steam instead of browning. That caramelized sweetness only happens with space and heat.