Spinach Gomae is a Japanese dish that features cooked spinach seasoned with sesame sauce. It's an easy, delicious, and healthy side dish.
My family loves going to Japanese restaurants. If asked what their favorite food is, both of my kids would say sushi. I think we probably eat at Japanese restaurants more than any other type of restaurant.
When we go, we mostly order sushi. But sometimes I like to add a few veggies, and I usually choose Spinach Gomae when I do.
Spinach Gomae is a Japanese dish made of blanched (lightly boiled or steamed) spinach with a sesame dressing or sauce. The sauce is traditionally made by crushing sesame seeds with a mortar and pestle.
I chose to skip this step and use tahini (sesame seed paste) along with coarsely ground sesame seeds to make a nice, thick sauce that still has some texture.
This healthy side dish is delicious and very quick and easy to make. Plus, it's a great way to use up an entire large bag of spinach.
How to make Spinach Gomae:
As I mentioned, Spinach Gomae is very quick and easy to make. You can easily have it on the table in 15 minutes, especially if you're using pre-washed baby spinach. If you do use regular spinach, make sure to wash it before eating.
I like to blanch the spinach before I prepare the dressing so that it has lots of time to drain before adding the dressing. No one likes watery spinach.
To cook the spinach, simply bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the spinach (depending on the size of your pot, you may need to do this in a couple of batches) and cook ONLY until the spinach is wilted and bright green. We're talking 30-60 seconds. Don't overcook the spinach.
Tip
If you need to add the spinach to the boiling water in batches, cook and remove all of the first batch before adding more to prevent the first batch from overcooking.
Remove the spinach from the water with tongs or a large wire-mesh strainer to avoid having to boil more water. Leave the spinach to drain in the same strainer or a colander while you make the dressing.
I like to coarsely grind some sesame seeds for the dressing in a coffee grinder. This gives the dressing some texture and more closely resembles the traditional texture using a mortar and pestle. However, if you don't have a coffee grinder, or simply want to skip this step, you can leave the sesame seeds whole.
Making the dressing simply requires whisking together the ingredients, or if you want it to go really quickly, use an immersion blender.
Once the dressing is combined, set aside a couple of tablespoons of it for drizzling later. Squeeze out any remaining water from the spinach, then toss it with the dressing and transfer it to a serving dish. Drizzle on the remaining dressing, and sprinkle with some more sesame seeds.
Spinach Gomae Ingredients:
- Baby spinach - For maximum convenience, choose pre-washed baby spinach available in a bag or plastic carton. Otherwise, make sure to wash the spinach before using.
- Sesame seeds plus more to garnish
- Tahini - Tahini is a paste made from sesame seeds. Find it in the International aisle of well-stocked grocery stores, or in Middle Eastern markets
- Rice vinegar: Find rice vinegar in the vinegar aisle of any well-stocked grocery store. Make sure to buy plain (unseasoned) rice vinegar for this recipe.
- Reduced-sodium soy sauce: Make sure to use tamari or gluten-free soy sauce to make this recipe gluten-free
- Mirin (or Aji-Mirin): Mirin is a sweet Japanese cooking wine. Find it in the International aisle of well-stocked grocery stores, or in Asian markets.
- Granulated sugar
Want more spinach recipes?
Spinach Gomae Nutrition Notes:
Make sure to use tamari or another gluten-free soy sauce to make your Spinach Gomae gluten-free.
Using regular soy sauce instead of reduced-sodium soy sauce will increase the sodium content of this recipe.
This recipe is dairy-free and vegan as written.
Spinach Gomae
Equipment
- Large Pot
- Colander or large fine-mesh strainer
Ingredients
- 1 pound baby spinach
- 2 Tablespoons sesame seeds plus more to garnish
- 2 Tablespoons tahini
- 1 Tablespoons rice vinegar
- 2 Tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce Use tamari or gluten-free soy sauce to make this recipe gluten-free
- 1 teaspoon mirin or aji-mirin
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the spinach, and cook only until it is bright green, and wilted, up to 30 seconds (note that it is best to do this in 2 batches to prevent the spinach you put in the pot first from becoming overcooked). Immediately transfer the spinach to a large colander and rinse with cold water until it is cooled completely. Leave it to drain while you prepare the dressing.
- Add 2 Tablespoons sesame seeds to a clean coffee grinder, or mini food processor and process until the sesame seeds are coarsely ground. Add the ground sesame seeds, 2 Tablespoons tahini, 1 Tablespoons rice vinegar, 2 Tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce, 1 teaspoon mirin, and 1 teaspoon granulated sugar to a medium bowl and whisk to combine. It should become quite thick, almost like mayonnaise. Reserve a couple of spoonfuls of dressing in a small bowl if you wish to drizzle any dressing on top of the spinach (as seen in the photos).
- Gently squeeze any excess water from the spinach, and pat dry with a clean dishtowel or paper towel. Add the spinach to the bowl with the dressing and toss to coat. If you like, transfer the spinach to a serving dish, or divide the spinach into 4 small bowls to serve. Drizzle with reserved dressing and sprinkle with additional sesame seeds. Serve immediately.
Nutrition
Rocky says
I wanted to make Japanese spinach and egg salad but realized I didn’t have any mayonnaise so started looking for something similar and found this recipe. I absolutely love it and will definitely make it more often. I assume the sugar is added to the dressing? It’s not included in the directions.
I’m also looking forward to trying the Thai Swimming Rama Chicken tomorrow. So happy I stumbled across your site!
Carissa says
I'm glad you liked it! Yes, the sugar goes in the dressing. Thanks for pointing out my error in the recipe - I have updated it.