Authentic Japanese Spinach Salad with Sesame Dressing
Japanese · Organized from the video by Just One Cookbook
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Ingredients
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Steps
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- 1
Bring a large pot of water to a boil for blanching.
🔥 boil
- 2
Toast the white sesame seeds in an ungreased frying pan over medium-high heat, shaking the pan constantly until fragrant.
💡 Even if your sesame seeds are pre-toasted, freshly toasting them enhances their nutty aroma.
🔥 medium-high heat
- 3
Transfer the toasted seeds to a ceramic mortar and grind with a wooden pestle, leaving some whole seeds for texture.
💡 It's nice to leave some seeds whole for texture.
- 4
Add the soy sauce and sugar to the ground seeds and mix to create the dressing.
- 5
Add the salt to the boiling water, then add the spinach with the stem ends first for 15 seconds before pushing the leaves down to blanch for 30 to 45 seconds until no longer rigid.
💡 The salt helps keep the green color brighter.
⏱ 15 seconds⏱ 30 to 45 seconds
- 6
Remove the spinach from the pot and plunge it into ice water to stop the cooking process.
- 7
Take the spinach out of the ice water and squeeze out the excess water.
- 8
Cut the squeezed spinach into 1-inch lengths.
- 9
Combine the spinach with the sesame dressing and serve at room temperature or chilled.
Tips
- Even if your sesame seeds are pre-toasted, freshly toast them to enhance their nutty aroma.
- Leaving some seeds whole provides a nice texture.
- Adding salt to the boiling water keeps the spinach color brighter.
This recipe was organized from the source video's transcript. Amounts follow what the video presents. Source: Just One Cookbook on YouTube