Difficulty: Easy
Serves 4 (as a side dish)
Goma-ae is one of my absolute fave Japanese dishes, probs because it involves sesame paste and I absolutely LOVE sesame. Not to be confused with tahini, white sesame paste can be picked up from any good Asian grocer and has an intensely nutty sesame flavour. I made goma-ae quite a while ago but have given the recipe a little revamp so now is the perfect time to get stuck in.
Note: That other stuff on the plate is for another recipe I’m working on, stay tuned for that one!
Ingredients
- 350g green beans, ends removed
- 350g baby spinach leaves
- 1/2 cup white sesame paste
- 1/3 cup soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon mirin (or rice wine vinegar)
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons sesame seeds
Method
- Wash and cut your green beans into thirds, popping them into a small saucepan filled with water.
- Bring to the boil, removing just as the beans begin to cook (you want them to still be bright green and crispy).
- Drain and pour straight into a bowl of iced water.
- Steam the baby spinach until completely wilted before removing excess moisture and cooling in the fridge.
- While the vegetables are cooling, blend together the sesame paste, soy sauce, mirin and brown sugar until smooth.
- After about 20 minutes, drain the beans and add to the spinach.
- Gently mix through the paste until there is an even coating and return to the fridge to chill completely.
- Sprinkle with sesame seeds before serving.