Goma-ae Salad (Japanese Spinach Salad with Sesame Sauce)

Ingredients

• Oriental spinach (horenso):You’ll find bunch ed spinach with roots (horenso-style). If bunch ed spinach isn’t handy, use baby spinach (blanch just a flash) or swap in other greens.
• Ground sesame seeds:This is toasted white sesame ground to a sandy, fragrant crumble that releases a warm, nutty aroma in sauces. Look for pre-ground “suri goma” at Japanese/Asian markets or online. Whole roasted seeds are widely stocked if you want to grind them yourself in a spice grinder or suribachi.
• Dash i granules:I chose granules over making fresh dash i because weeknight dinners need to be realistic. You can grab it at Asian groceries and, increasingly, in mainstream chains’ international aisles or online. For a fish-free route, choose kombu-based dash i powder.

Instructions

1. Start by filling a large pot with 2000 ml water and bring to a rolling boil. While you wait, fill a bowl with cold water and add 250 g Oriental spinach . Open the roots and swish vigorously to clean out sand and grit. Replace the water if it gets too sand and repeat until thoroughly cleaned.
2. Once the water is boiling, add 1 tsp salt to the pot and mix. Bring to a boil once more and prepare 1 bowl ice cold water . When it's boiling rapidly, place the spinach in the pot root first with the leaves above the surface of the water, leaning over the edge of the pot. Boil for 30 seconds.
3. Push the leaves down to submerge them in the water and continue to blanch for 15 30 seconds (the stems 45 60 seconds in total).
4. Remove the spinach from the water and transfer straight to the bowl of cold water to stop the cooking process.
5. While the spinach cools, take a mixing bowl (big enough to add the spinach) and add ¼ tsp salt , ½ tbsp Japanese soy sauce (koikuchi shoyu) , 2 tbsp ground sesame seeds , 1 tbsp light brown sugar , ½ tbsp toasted white sesame seeds , ½ tbsp dashi stock . (If you don't have dashi you can use an equal amount of water instead.) Mix well.
6. Remove the spinach from the bowl and thoroughly squeeze out the excess water to avoid watering down the sauce. Cut off the roots, then cut it into thirds or quarters lengthways before adding it to the bowl of sauce. Mix until evenly coated and enjoy!