Green Bean Gomaae is a classic Japanese salad where we blanch fresh green beans and toss them in a sweet, sesame-soy dressing. You‘ll need only 4 ingredients and 20 minutes to make this delicious, vegan-friendly side dish.
Green Bean Gomaae (胡麻和え) is one of the vegetable side dishes that my mom taught me to make from scratch when I was little. The aromatic and nutty sesame sauce adds just the right touch to the vegetables. As it pairs well with almost every Japanese meal, we would serve green beans regularly at the family dinner. It’s fresh-tasting, delicious, and super simple.
Whenever you need a quick veggie, the salad will always be a perfect match. It’s the one you’ll make again and again, so memorize the recipe!
Table of Contents
What is Gomaae?
Gomaae (sometimes written as Goma-ae or Goma Ae) is a Japanese side dish with vegetables in sesame sauce. Goma (胡麻) means ‘sesame seeds’ and -Ae (和え) means ‘being dressed with sauce/dressing’ in Japanese. Yes, it’s double ‘a’ in gomaae.
Toasted sesame seeds are crushed and then seasoned with soy sauce and sugar. You will wonder why it’s so simple yet incredibly delicious. The sesame sauce is versatile and you can dress it with all kinds of vegetables! The top 2 popular choices are green beans and spinach.
Why You’ll Love This Dish
- Just 4 ingredients: Green beans, sesame seeds, soy sauce, and sugar. That’s it!
- Easy to make, under 15 minutes at max.
- It’s versatile. You can se other veggies if you don’t have green beans.
- Delicious! And addicting. Everyone loves it and wants more! A sure-win way to eat more vegetables.
- Perfect for making ahead. It stores well in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
How to Make Green Bean Gomaae
The Ingredients You’ll Need
- Green beans – I use both regular green beans and skinny French green beans (Haricots Verts) for Gomaae.
- Toasted white sesame seeds – Typically we use white sesame seeds for the gomaae recipe, but you can use black sesame seeds or a combination. Just be aware that black sesame seeds have a stronger aroma and taste. They are a good source of vitamins, minerals, fiber, healthy fats, and protein. That is why we love using sesame seeds in our cooking!
- Soy sauce – I recommend using Japanese soy sauce instead of other Asian varieties for the right flavor as they taste quite different. If you’re gluten-free, you can use gluten-free soy sauce.
- Sugar – You may wonder if you can skip or substitute sugar with a healthier alternative, such as honey and maple syrup. First of all, soy sauce is salty; therefore, you will need to add sweetness to balance out the flavor. Secondly, if you don’t mind the additional honey/maple syrup flavor in the sauce, you can use it. I personally don’t expect honey or maple syrup in a gomaae dish, so I wouldn’t use it.
The Cooking Steps
- Toast the sesame seeds and grind them. Then, combine all the ingredients for the sauce.
- Prepare the green beans and cook them in boiling water until tender. Drain and set aside.
- Toss the green beans and sauce together and serve.
Please read the recipe card below for the details.
Helpful Tools: Japanese Pestle and Mortar
For gomaae, we use a Japanese ceramic mortar and wooden pestle called suribachi (すり鉢) and Surikogi (すりこぎ). These mortars and pestles are helpful to grind sesame seeds and nuts, mash vegetables and tofu, or mix ingredients in Japanese cooking.
Most Japanese household has one of these, which explains why gomaae is quite a popular dish in Japan. I always recommend getting a bigger bowl if you can; that way, you can put the ingredients in there for tossing together. Two of my favorite suribachi bowls are roughly 10 inches (25 cm) in diameter.
- Japanese-style large ceramic mortar (suribachi) (Use “JOC10” to get 10% off)
- Japanese-style 9.5″ pestle (surikogi) (Use “JOC10” to get 10% off)
5 Cooking Tips
- Toast the sesame seeds. Even though some sesame seeds are already toasted, don’t skip this step. It makes a difference!
- Grind partially. It’s a preference, but you don’t have to grind all the sesame seeds to a paste form. It’s nice to leave some sesame seeds uncrushed for a texture.
- Don’t skip the sugar. I know you may be tempted to skip but don’t omit the sugar completely. You need to counterbalance the saltiness of soy sauce with sugar.
- Don’t overcook the green beans – Depending on the type of green beans you use, be careful not to overcook the beans. You will need to blanch until the beans are just tender, about 3 minutes for French green beans; about 4 to 5 minutes for regular green beans. I like the beans when they still have the slightest crunch of texture. As you cook, check the doneness at intervals.
- Shock the green vegetables. Quickly rinse them in cold water to stop them from cooking further (or you can transfer them to an ice-water bath). Whether you use green beans or spinach, shocking them with cold water will help the beans stay bright green.
Other Vegetable Variations
No green beans today? Try the following vegetables to make delicious gomaae!
- Asparagus
- Avocado
- Bean sprouts
- Broccoli & Broccolini – Kids’ favorite!
- Burdock root (Gobo)
- Carrot
- Cauliflower
- Chrysanthemum greens (shungiku) – My mom’s favorite for Gomaae.
- Cucumber
- Kabocha
- Komatsuna – Mr. JOC’s favorite!
- Okra
- Spinach – Here’s my recipe.
- By adding tofu to gomaae, you can make Shiraae, a variation of gomaae!
Frequently Asked Questions
Why don’t we make more sauce for the green beans?
Gomaae’s sauce is not supposed to be sauce-y. Green beans are gently coated with the sesame sauce. For a half-pound of green beans, you will need one tablespoon of soy sauce and a half to one tablespoon of sugar.
Can I use black sesame seeds?
You can, but please be aware that black sesame seeds have a stronger aroma and taste.
Can I use another vegetable other than green beans?
Sure! I listed some of the vegetables that work with sesame sauce right above this section, so check it out!
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Green Bean Gomaae (Sesame Dressing)
Ingredients
For the Dressing
- 3 Tbsp toasted white sesame seeds
- 1 Tbsp soy sauce
- 1 Tbsp sugar (can reduce to ½ Tbsp, but the dish will taste saltier)
For the Green Beans
- 1 tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- ½ lb green beans
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients.
To Prepare the Sesame Dressing
- Bring a pot of water to a boil to cook the beans. Meanwhile, toast 3 Tbsp toasted white sesame seeds in a dry frying pan for a couple of minutes, gently shaking the pan. Be careful not to burn the seeds. Tip: Even if your sesame seeds are pre-toasted/roasted, it’s good to toast them again for a nice aroma.
- With a mortar and pestle (or spice grinder), grind the sesame seeds, leaving some uncrushed to add texture to the sauce.
- Add 1 Tbsp soy sauce and 1 Tbsp sugar and mix it all together. The dressing will look more like a paste than dressing. Set aside.
To Prepare the Green Beans
- If your green beans are not trimmed, snap the tip of one end of the bean with your fingers and draw it down the length of one side to remove any existing string. Do the same thing with the other end, pulling it down the other side of the bean.
- To the boiling water, add 1 tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt and ½ lb green beans.
- Cook the green beans for 4–5 minutes (or 3 minutes for French green beans/haricots verts) until they are bright green and tender but still crunchy.
- Remove from the heat, place in a strainer, and quickly rinse them in cold water to stop them from cooking further (or you can transfer them to an ice-water bath). You don’t need to chill them; the beans should still be warm. Drain or dry well with a clean towel. Then, cut them into pieces 2 inches (5 cm) long. Tip: Shocking the green beans with cold water will help them stay green.
To Dress and Serve
- Transfer the warm beans to the bowl and toss them in the sesame dressing. Serve the Green Bean Gomaae at room temperature or chilled.
To Store
- Keep the leftover in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
I make this recipe ALL THE TIME! and it’s always AWESOME! It works with almost any type of fresh veggie.
DO NOT SKIP TOASTING THE SEEDS! I’ve made this recipe with pre-toasted sesame, and it really isn’t the same. That freshly toasted goodness (so many seeds!) and the SMELL THAT COMES OUT OF THE MORTAR are so dang good. Need a quick salad? Have a vegetable in your fridge? Family doesn’t like lettuce based salads?
MAKE THIS!
Hi John! Thank you for trying Nami’s recipe and sharing your cooking experience with us!
Yes! Toasting the seeds is a must!
Happy Cooking!
I’m going to make roasted veggies for a bridal shower and would like to use this sauce for the veggies. Will this work on sweet potatoes?
Hi Diana! Thank you for reading Nami’s post and trying her recipe!
Yes. Sweet Potatoes would be good with this sweet soy sauce flavor.
We hope you enjoy them. 🙂
Absolutely delicious! I added a pinch of togarashi because I like a little spicy heat.
Hi Nancy! Awesome! We are glad to hear you enjoyed the dish!
Thank you for trying Nami’s recipe and sharing your cooking experience with us.
Happy Cooking! 😊
Can I use some Mirin as a replacemnt for the sugar ?
Or perhaps brown sugar ?
Hi Surati! Thank you very much for trying Nami’s recipe!
We don’t recommend using brown sugar because some have a strong molasses flavor. And Mirin would be too waterly for this dish.
How about adding honey instead? The amount should be about half of sugar.
We hope this helps!
Good idea. Thx
I don’t have any green beans, but I bet this would be good with Brussels sprouts (which I accidentally have in abundance lol)
Hi catmum, Thank you very much for reading Nami’s post and trying her recipe!
Yes, Brussels sprouts should work well with this recipe. We hope you enjoy it.😊
So simple and so delicious! We loved this recipe – thanks so much!
Hi Phyllis! Thank you very much for trying Nami’s recipe and for your kind feedback!
We are so happy to hear you enjoyed Green Bean Gomaae!☺️
I do not own a mortar; can I use a food processor to grind toasted sesame seeds?
Hi Nancy, Thank you for trying Nami’s recipe!
If your food processor works well for the amount of sesame seeds that you are grinding, yes, you can use it.
We hope this helps!
Hello and thanks for the delicious recipe. I made it yesterday but, being a bit early for green beans in my country, I picked asparagus instead and the result was marvellous. As I have a few spoonfuls of leftover gomaae I will definitely try it tonight with avocado! Thank you very much for the detailed instructions.
Hi Francesca! Great choice! 😊
Thank you very much for trying Nami’s recipe and sharing your cooking experience with us!
Love this recipe. I couldn’t find my sesame seeds, neither do I have a mortar and pestle, so I cheated by using 1 tsp of sesame oil. oh, so good and fast. It’s a keeper!
Hi Judy, We are glad to hear sesame oil worked out for you and enjoyed the green bean. Thank you for your kind feedback!
I tried your Green Bean Gomaae recipe. So easy to make yet so delicious. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
Other than Amazon, where can you suggest to get a suribachi from?
Hi Lysa, Thank you very much for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback! To purchase a Suribachi, you can try to find it at your local Asian store or may use this link: https://mtckitchen.com/search.php?search_query=suribachi§ion=content.
We hope this helps!
Wow, I did it in the “dia de reis” in Catalunya (a Santa-kind fest with lot of presents for the children) and all the family enjoy it! Above all, my daughter Nara enjoy it so much and she isn’t a great lover of food. Hoorray for you. Next time I’ll do post some photo.
Domo arigato from a town next to Barcelona and congrats for the blog, is amazing!
Hi Javi,
Aww… We are so happy to hear everyone enjoyed it! Yay!
Thank you very much for trying this recipe from Barcelona and sharing Japanese food with your friend and families.
I am anxious to try. Where to get this suribachi surikogi. in 10 ” size.
Hi June,
You can find it in the Asian market or online. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07S32FSKH/?ref=exp_justonecookbook_dp_vv_d
We hope this helps!🙂
A big thumbs up😍
Hi Maria!
Thank you very much for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback!😊
I first discovered this dish made with spinach. Love all different vegetables in this dressing.
Hi Pete!
Yay! We are so happy to hear you enjoyed it with different vegetables.
Thank you for your kind feedback!😊
I made this with broccolini and it was fantastic!
Hi S,
Broccolini Gomaae sounds delicious!
Thank you for your kind feedback.😊