Goma-ae Recipe
Goma-ae Recipe
Goma-ae is a kind of Japanese spinach salad with sesame dressing.
INGREDIENTS:
1 pound spinach
2 tbsps white sesame
1 tbsp sake
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp-1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp dried shaved bonito (optional) (see note)
PREPARATION:
Wash and blanche spinach. You can literally put a handful of spinach into boiling water, and immediately take it out. Rinse the spinach in cold water and drain it very well - I tightly squeeze the excess water out. Toast the sesame seeds for a couple of minutes in a hot, dry skillet until browned. Put sesame seeds in a mini-food processor or spice grinder and grind them. Add sugar, soy sauce, and sake in the processor and mix into a thin paste. Add to the spinach and stir well.
I like to top the dish with a big pinch of shaved bonito flakes.
NOTE:
Although bonito is one of the most important fish in Japanese cuisine, it is rarely eaten as the entrée of a meal. Instead, the dark, oily fish is carefully dried and shaved into very fine flakes known as katsobushi. These intensely flavored, salty flakes are combined with konbu seaweed to make dashi, the base stock for most Japanese soups and broths. Dashi is present in so many Japanese foods that the cuisine would hardly be the same without it. The strong, clean fish flavor of katsobushi makes it a wonderful seasoning for wakame seaweed salads, for seasoning chilled tofu, and for sprinkling over steamed or sautéed vegetables.
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