How I love this steamed Japanese spinach salad with sesame! What a great side dish this is as well: very healthy and so easy to make in advance. Sesame fan?
Well I guess this must be the fastest dish ever!
Because last Saturday I had planned some grocery shopping at my local farmers market.
Spinach Salad
But about 5 minutes before leaving, I came across this Japanese spinach salad recipe while browsing for simple salads.
And then I saw this beauty. Wow. I turned my menu upside down in a second and a couple of hours later this beauty was on our dinner table.
I really recommend cooling the hot steamed spinach in an ice bath because this will keep that deep green color vibrant or the spinach might turn to a darker (almost black looking) green color.
You sure don’t want your lovely salad to look unappetizing!
Ice Bath
So before you start this recipe: prepare the ice bath first.
Fill a bowl with cold water and add 2 handfuls of ice cubes to it. Place the bowl in the fridge – or freezer if you have enough space.
Done.
Japanese Spinach Salad (Spinach-Goma-Ae)
How I love the sesame flavor!
If you are fond of sesame as well, then I have only two words for you: try it!
This salad is easy to make ahead since it has to cool down fully. It makes such a great and healthy side dish!
Sesame
And I confess.
I prepared this salad one day for lunch, nothing else on my plate than a heap of crunchy steamed spinach and sesame. And for some reason I always seem to make not enough of it, the flavor is so addictive!
I served this Japanese spinach salad the other day as a side for my Japanese chicken katsu (breaded garlic chicken) with creamy Japanese curry sauce and cooked white rice.
Heavenly combo, spot on.
Try out that breaded chicken too by the way, katsu is a very popular dish in Japan. You can use chicken or pork, choose what protein you want.
Fish Sauce
Are you looking for a couple of vegetarian substitutes for the fish sauce?
Then I suggest that you use vegan fish sauce that you can find in most Chinese supermarkets.
No vegan fish sauce around where you live?
Substitutes
I would simply add an extra teaspoon of soy sauce and 2 teaspoons of water.
Make sure that the soy sauce you are using is vegetarian or vegan as well, anchovies are sometimes used to make soy sauce. Vegan soy sauces often contain mushrooms only.
I prepared this salad in the steam basket of my KitchenAid Cook Processor: scroll down to the second recipe here on this page for the specifics if you are looking for that step by step recipe then!
Enjoy!
Easy Japanese Spinach Salad Recipe
How I love this steamed Japanese spinach salad with sesame! What a great side dish this is as well: very healthy and so easy to make in advance. Sesame fan?
- 1 lb fresh spinach (450 g)
- 1 ½ oz sesame seeds (45 g)
- 2 handfuls ice cubes
- 2 tbsp fish sauce
- 2 tsp soy sauce
- pepper
- salt
Prepare the ice water: fill a large bowl with cold water and then add the ice cubes. Place the bowl in the fridge 30 minutes before you start preparing the spinach salad. Add the sesame seeds to a blender (you can also use a mortar and pestle).
Blend the sesame for a good minute until it is very fine, more like flour.
- Rinse the spinach well and place it in a steamer basket.
- Close the steamer and then steam the spinach for 4 minutes until soft. Once done, immediately remove the spinach from the basket and let it cool in the ice water.
Once cooled, gently squeeze the steamed spinach and chop it up roughly. Add it to a large bowl together with the blended sesame, fish sauce, soy sauce and a tablespoon of water. Season with a pinch of pepper and salt.
Stir the spinach salad. Then check the seasoning and add extra pepper, salt, fish sauce or soy sauce to taste if necessary. Serve cold.
Japanese Spinach Salad
How I love this steamed Japanese spinach salad with sesame!
What a great side dish: healthy and so easy to make in advance…
And what a perfect cooked salad recipe to prepare in my KitchenAid Cook Processor: steamed spinach in a flavorful sesame seed dressing. I loved the look and sound of this spinach salad the very minute I stumbled upon it: shopping list, check!
A couple of hours later then this beauty was on our dinner table…
KitchenAid Cook Processor
And it blew us away: this Japanese spinach salad is a true keeper!
Since I bought the KitchenAid Cook Processor I can prepare any steam recipe with my eyes closed. The KitchenAid steamer basket and steam program are perfect and very easy to use. We loved this one so much!
Now dig in and enjoy.
Easy Japanese Spinach Salad Recipe
How I love this steamed Japanese spinach salad with sesame! What a great side dish this is as well: very healthy and so easy to make in advance. Sesame fan?
- 1 lb fresh spinach (450 g)
- 1 ½ sesame seeds (45 g)
- 2 handfuls ice cubes
- 2 tbsp fish sauce
- 2 tsp soy sauce
- pepper
- salt
Prepare the ice water: fill a bowl with cold water and add the ice cubes. Then place the bowl in the fridge 30 minutes before you make the spinach salad. Add the sesame seeds to the bowl of the Cook Processor fitted with the MultiBlade.
Close the bowl and then press Pulse for 2 minutes. In the end the sesame seeds should be very fine, more like flour.
- Pour the sesame in a clean ramekin and clean the bowl with a kitchen towel. Rinse the spinach and place it in the large steamer basket.
- Pour 2 cups (480 ml) of water in the bowl and place the steamer basket on top. Close it. Then select STEAM P1 and press Start to activate the program. Once done, immediately remove the spinach from the basket and let it cool in the ice water.
- Empty the bowl of the Cook Processor and wipe it dry with a clean kitchen towel. Once cooled, gently squeeze the spinach and chop it up roughly. Add it to the bowl of the Cook Processor fitted with the StirAssist. Also add the fine sesame, the fish sauce, a tablespoon of water and the soy sauce. Season with a pinch of pepper and salt.
- Close the bowl and press Quick Stir for 20 seconds. Then check the seasoning of the salad and add extra pepper, salt, fish sauce and soy sauce to taste if necessary.
