Japanese Style Spinach With Sesame Seeds Recipes

JAPANESE-STYLE SPINACH, WITH SESAME SEEDS

Steps:

• Toast sesame seeds by placing them in a pan in a 300-degree oven for about 10 minutes, until lightly brown. Set aside.
• Thoroughly wash spinach, dry it and remove stems. Coarsely chop.
• Heat peanut oil in a large skillet, add spinach and cook, stirring, from three to five minutes, until the moisture has evaporated from the pan and the spinach has just wilted.
• Spoon spinach into a serving dish, toss with sesame oil and soy sauce and serve sprinkled with sesame seed.

SPINACH WITH SESAME SHOYU DRESSING

Steps:

• Rinse spinach and drain lightly. With water still clinging to leaves, cook in 3 batches in an 8-quart pot over moderately high heat, covered, turning occasionally with tongs, until wilted and bright green, 2 to 3 minutes per batch. Transfer as cooked to a colander, then rinse under cold water until cool and drain well. Squeeze small handfuls of spinach to remove as much moisture as possible, then in 3 batches wrap spinach in several layers of paper towels and squeeze to remove even more moisture. Coarsely chop spinach.
• On a 16-inch sheet of plastic wrap, form half of spinach into a 13 1/2- by 1 1/2-inch log. Repeat with remaining spinach on another sheet of plastic wrap. Use plastic wrap and your hands to roll, compact, and smooth sides of logs. Remove and discard plastic wrap. With a sharp knife, cut each spinach log crosswise into 9 (1 1/2-inch) pieces (18 total), then arrange, cut sides up, on a platter, reshaping and smoothing mounds with your fingers.
• Finely grind 2 teaspoons sesame seeds in a blender, then add peanut oil, vinegar, mirin, shoyu, sesame oil, and salt and blend until combined well. Spoon 1 teaspoon dressing over each spinach mound, stirring dressing occasionally (it will separate as it stands), and sprinkle mounds with remaining 4 teaspoons sesame seeds.

JAPANESE SPINACH WITH SWEET SESAME SEEDS

Steps:

• Heat the sesame oil in a large skillet over medium heat until hot. Add the spinach 3 to 4 cups at a time. Cook and stir to wilt, then add more spinach.
• Grind the sesame seeds into fine crumbs using a mortar and pestle. When spinach is wilted, move it to the sides of the pan and sprinkle sugar in the center. When the sugar melts, stir in the spinach to coat.
• Transfer spinach to a serving plate and sprinkle ground sesame seeds on top.