Goma-ae: green vegetables coated in sesame sauce

Goma-ae, spinach with sesame sauce

⏱ 15 min 👥 2 servings

Goma-ae is a simple way to dress green vegetables with a freshly ground, sweet and savory sesame sauce, a staple of everyday Japanese meals. Unlike a vinaigrette, everything is prepared in the same vessel: you grind the sesame, add the sauce, and then mix the vegetables in directly. The suribachi is more than just a mortar here; it is also the serving bowl.

Preparation

Blanch the spinach
Submerge the spinach in boiling salted water for 30 seconds, then place directly into cold water to stop the cooking.
Drain and chop
Drain and press firmly to remove excess water, then cut into 4-5 cm lengths.
👉 Tip: poorly drained spinach will make the sauce too watery.
Grind the sesame
Pour the toasted sesame seeds into the suribachi and grind with the surikogi, rotating in circles against the ridges until they become glossy and fragrant.
Assemble the sauce and mix
Add the soy sauce and sugar directly into the suribachi, mix with the ground sesame, then incorporate the spinach and toss to coat thoroughly.

Culture

An everyday dish
Goma-ae is part of the aemono family—vegetables "dressed" in a sauce—an entire category of small dishes that accompany rice in an everyday Japanese meal. Spinach is the most common version, but green beans or blanched cabbage work just as well.

The tool

Suribachi mortar and Japanese pestle

Its fan-shaped ridges grind sesame and release its oils without turning it into a fine powder—a circular motion, quite different from a Western mortar. You prepare the sauce and mix the vegetables in the same bowl.

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