Goma Ae Recipes

GOMA-AE

Steps:

• Clean and blanch the spinach. To do this drop into boiling water and remove immediately.
• Rinse in very cold water. Drain well. You may want to gently squeeze out excess.
• Heat a skillet very hot. Add the seeds and toat a couple minutes until brown. Then put them in a blender or spice grinder and grind.
• Add the remaining ingredients to blender and process into thin paste. Then add to spinach and stir well.
• Note If using add the bonito flakes to the top as garnish right before serving.
• 2-4 [we are big Spinach eaters -- servings depend on how you serve it.].

GOMAE (JAPANESE SPINACH AND SESAME SALAD)

Steps:

• Put the sesame seeds in a small pan and turn the heat to low. Keep stirring the seeds until they become golden - about 6 to 7 minutes.
• Turn the heat off and put the seeds in a sesame seed grinder or mortar and pestle. Grind the seeds into a bowl and add the soy sauce, sugar, dashi powder, and water. Stir and set aside.
• Fill a large pot with water and 1 tablespoon salt, and bring to a boil.
• Meanwhile, fill a medium to large bowl with ice and cold water. Set aside.
• Add the spinach and boil for 1 minute and drain.
• Transfer the spinach to the bowl with ice and leave for a few minutes, until the spinach is cold.
• Drain the spinach and using your hands, take a chunk of spinach and squeeze as much excess water as you can. Place the spinach on a cutting board and repeat with the remaining spinach.
• Cut the spinach into 2-inch long pieces and transfer it to a mixing bowl.
• Add the sesame sauce on top and using chopsticks, toss until the spinach is evenly coated with the sauce. Serve.

GOMA-AE JAPANESE GREENS

Steps:

• Get a bowl of iced water ready. Bring a pan of salted water to the boil, add the green beans and cook for 2-3 mins until bright green but still crunchy. Use a slotted spoon to remove the beans and plunge them into the ice water. Add the spinach to the boiling water and cook for 20-30 secs, then remove and add to the ice water. Once cool, drain the greens in a sieve over the bowl and set aside for 5 mins so that all the water drips out of them.
• Make the dressing by grinding the sesame seeds with a pestle and mortar or spice grinder, then mix in the other ingredients. Toss the greens in the dressing, top with the gomashio, if using, and serve.

HORENSOU NO GOMA-AE AND GOMA-AE HOSOMAKI

Steps:

• If using bunched spinach, trim the very bottom of the stems and separate the leaves, leaving the stems intact (see Cook's Note). Rinse and drain the spinach and set aside in a colander.
• Bring 4 quarts of water to a boil in a large pot. Add the spinach to the boiling water and cook just until the leaves wilt and turn bright green, 8 to 10 seconds. Immediately drain the spinach and transfer to a large bowl filled with ice water. Drain, gently squeeze out the excess water and set aside.
• Grind the toasted sesame seeds with 1 tablespoon sugar with a suribachi and surikogi (Japanese mortar and pestle), mortar and pestle or spice grinder until ground. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon sugar and grind until finely ground. Add the soy sauce and mix until a thick paste forms. If using a mortar and pestle or spice grinder, transfer to a medium bowl. Add the blanched spinach and fold until the spinach leaves are evenly coated.
• Lay a half nori sheet textured-side up (smooth/shiny-side down) on a cutting board with one of the longer sides closest to you. Lightly moisten your fingers with ice water. Gently spread 1/2 cup of prepared sushi rice evenly over the nori, leaving a 1/2-inch strip without rice at the far long side. Carefully place the sheet rice-side up on a makisu (sushi rolling mat).
• Place 1 ounce of the spinach lengthwise in the center of the rice sheet. Use your thumbs to lift the edge of the makisu closest to you and roll the nori/rice sheet inside the makisu until the edge meets the rice. Make sure you leave the edge of the nori with no rice on it exposed.
• Lift the edge of the makisu off of the sushi roll and continue rolling the sushi roll over until the seam is on the bottom. The empty nori strip with no rice on it should seal around the outside of the sushi roll. If it doesn't, swipe a little water with your fingertip over the nori edge and let it sit seam-side down for a few seconds. Repeat with the remaining ingredients, making a total of 4 rolls.
• Dip the tip of a knife into the ice water and allow the water to run down the blade. Slice the roll into 6 even pieces and serve with extra goma-ae, soy sauce, pickled ginger and wasabi if desired.

GOMA-AE GREEN BEANS - JAPANESE GREEN BEANS WITH SESAME DRESSING

Steps:

• For the dressing, dry roast sesame seeds in a frying pan for about a couple of minutes, gently jiggling the pan. Careful not to burn them.
• With a pestle and a mortar, partially grind the sesame seeds.
• In a large bowl, mix together ground sesame seeds, soy sauce, sugar, and a pinch of salt.
• Cut the green beans if they are too long. Cook the green beans by boiling until desired tenderness is reached. Drain and briefly run them under running water so that the beans stay green.
• While the green beans still warm, toss them in the sesame dressing.
• The dressing looks more like a paste than dressing but that's exactly how you want it to be, otherwise when mixed with the green beans, the dressing gets too runny and the green beans won't taste as nice.