One of the top side dishes on my blog since I introduced the recipe in 2011 is Japanese Spinach Salad with Sesame Dressing (goma-ae or gomaae). Today, I want to share an equally delicious variation called spinach with sesame miso sauce (ほうれん草の胡麻味噌和え).
Like the gomaae dish, my Spinach with Sesame Miso Sauce recipe is full of bright flavors and is not too heavy or rich. It’s so versatile, too! Now, you can alternate these two vegetable side dishes to accompany almost any delicious meal that you are cooking.
What Is Sesame Miso Sauce (Goma Miso Ae)?
The classic combination of ground sesame seeds (goma) and miso is very popular in Japanese cooking. When we make it into a sauce, we call it goma miso ae. These flavors go hand-in-hand as a simple dressing for spinach and other vegetables. Miso imparts a savory taste and depth to the sauce, giving the vegetables a serious boost.
If your main dish has a lighter flavor, you can make this dressing instead of regular sesame sauce. All you need is 5 condiments plus spinach to make a memorable weeknight side dish. When you get fresh spinach from the market, definitely try this easy and delicious recipe!
Ingredients You’ll Need
- kosher salt – for boiling the spinach; I use Diamond Crystal brand
- spinach bunch
- mirin – cook off the alcohol for 30 seconds (learn more below)
- toasted white sesame seeds
- miso – 味噌, the Japanese fermented soybean paste; I use Hikari Miso® Organic Koji Miso
- sugar
- soy sauce
How To Make Spinach with Sesame Miso Sauce
- Start boiling water in a pot with a couple pinches of salt. Cook the mirin in a small saucepan for 30 seconds until the alcohol is evaporated.
- Toast the sesame seeds in a frying pan over low heat, shaking the pan constantly.
- Grind the seeds with a suribachi (mortar) and surikogi (pestle) until almost ground. It’s nice to leave some texture.
- Mix the sauce ingredients together (miso paste, sugar, mirin, and soy sauce).
- Cook the spinach in the boiling water. Start from the tough stem-end since they take longer to cook. Cool in a large bowl of cold water, then squeeze out the excess water.
- Cut the spinach and toss with the sauce. Serve at room temperature or chilled.
My Favorite Miso Brand – Hikari Miso
For this recipe, I used Hikari Miso® Maru-Yu Mutenka Yuki Miso (organic). Hikari Miso has a large collection of different types of this Japanese fermented paste. Depending on the availability at your grocery store, you’ll find many types of miso from Hikari Miso.
I’ve partnered with Hikari Miso to share monthly recipes on Just One Cookbook. Personally, I’ve been using their miso for years! I first discovered the brand after I got married. It’s been fun trying out varieties of their amazing miso, as each one tastes slightly different. You can learn more about the different types on my miso pantry page.
Nikiri – Sake and Mirin For Dressings
When using mirin or sake in a recipe that doesn’t require cooking it, you may worry about the alcohol content. If so, you can cook the sake or mirin to burn off the alcohol. The Japanese cooking term for boiling down sake or mirin is nikiri (煮切り). Mirin that’s been boiled down is called nikiri mirin (煮切りみりん) and is used for dressing vegetables in particular.
It’s easy to do. Simply cook mirin or sake in a small saucepan until no trace of alcohol scent remains. You could check for the smell of alcohol by wafting the steam toward your nose.
- boil 1/2 cup for 1.5 minutes
- boil 1 tablespoon for 10 seconds (roughly)
Even if you’re not concerned about alcohol in your food, I still recommend this quick step. The flavors of some ingredients in your recipe can be very subtle and you don’t want the strong alcohol taste to interfere.
A Healthy Vegetable Side Dish For Weeknight Dinners
As a home cook, I believe we all need tried-and-true vegetable dishes to round out our weeknight dinners. It’s important for the whole family to enjoy delicious side dishes that are also healthy. This Spinach with Sesame Miso Sauce is exactly what you need! It’s chock full of nutrients and flavor. The best part is it pairs well with just about anything you’re serving. Did I mention that it keeps well in the refrigerator for 2-3 days, too?
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Spinach with Sesame Miso Sauce
Ingredients
- ¼ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- 6 oz spinach
For the Sesame Miso Sauce
- 1 Tbsp mirin
- 2 Tbsp toasted white sesame seeds
- 2 tsp miso (I used Hikari Miso® Organic Koji Miso)
- 1 tsp sugar
- ½ tsp soy sauce
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients. Bring a big pot of water to a boil. [Optional] If your sesame seeds are not toasted/roasted yet, or if you want more toasty taste/fragrance, put sesame seeds in a frying pan and toast them on low heat. When 2–3 sesame seeds start to pop from the pan, remove from the heat.
- While waiting for the water to boil, add 1 Tbsp mirin to a small saucepan. Cook it over medium heat until the alcohol is evaporated, roughly 30 seconds. Set aside.
- In a suribachi (mortar), add 2 Tbsp toasted white sesame seeds and grind with a surikogi (pestle) until the sesame seeds are almost ground. It’s nice to leave some texture.
- Add 2 tsp miso, 1 tsp sugar, the alcohol-free mirin, and ½ tsp soy sauce and mix well together.
- Once water is boiling, add ¼ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt. Hold 6 oz spinach leaves so you can start blanching from the stem (which takes longer to cook). Cook for 15 seconds. Let go the leafy part and cook for 30 seconds.
- Remove spinach from the water and soak in iced water to stop the cooking. Alternatively, drain and run the spinach under cold running water until cool.
- Collect the spinach and squeeze the water out.
- Cut the spinach into 2-inch (5-cm) lengths and add to the bowl.
- Mix the spinach and sauce together. Serve at room temperature or chilled.
To Store
- You can put it in an airtight container and store it in the refrigerator for 2–3 days or in the freezer for 2–4 weeks.
Nutrition
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