Spinach & sesame salad
Spinach & sesame salad
Anyone who doesn’t like spinach will soon change their mind after trying this. This recipe also works well with chard but it will need a little more cooking.
For grinding the sesame seeds, a Japanese suribachi with its ridged mortar is perfect but a smooth one will work just fine.
You can buy ready made dashi from some supermarkets or instant powdered dashi online but I always make my own. In fact when I start cooking a Japanese meal it’s the first thing I do as I will most probably be making miso soup. Any left over dashi will keep in the fridge for 2 or 3 days.
Spring | Serves 4
200-250g baby spinach leaves or regular spinach
3 tablespoons toasted white sesame seeds
1 tablespoon caster sugar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoons dashi (optional)
For the dashi:
1 litre cold water
20cm length kombu seaweed (approximately 5g)
A large handful of katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes)
To make the dashi, add the kombu to the cold water and slowly bring to the boil. Remove the kombu, add the katsuobushi and bring to the boil again. Remove from the heat and strain.
Drop the spinach into a large pan of boiling water and leave for a few seconds.
Drain and plunge into cold water. Then drain again.
Squeeze out as much water as you can and cut roughly if using larger leaves.
Grind the toasted sesame seeds in a suribachi, add the sugar and grind again. If you only have untoasted, you can toast them yourself in a dry pan until they pop.
Blend in the soy sauce and dashi if using and gently mix in the spinach loosening it as you do.
Serve in small mounds on individual plates.
