japanese goma-ae

Moms are often surprised that my kids will eat vegetables since their kids won’t. Meanwhile, I wish my kids would eat more vegetables. They don’t like all vegetables but there are certain ones they enjoy. This is one of them.

Whenever we have goma-ae in a Japanese restaurant, my kids just gobble it up so I tried to make it at home. After my first attempt at making it, I noticed my then 5 year-old boy picking at it and not eating it. When I said, “You like goma-ae! Why are you not eating it?” He exclaimed, “It looks like it, but it doesn’t taste like it.” Ouch.

So, I mentioned it to the sushi chef at our favourite restaurant and he was kind enough to share his recipe with me which was one part each of the three ingredients but I have adjusted the recipe to our liking. Now, the kids love it at home.

Japanese Goma-ae

Ingredients

1lb spinach
1/2 to 1T sugar (adjust to taste)
1 to 1 1/2T sesame paste
1T soy sauce
sesame seeds for garnish

Instructions

1. Cook the spinach by blanching it for 1 minute in boiling salted water. Drain and immediately plunge the spinach into a bowl of ice water or just run it under really cold water to stop the cooking. Once cool enough, squeeze as much liquid out as possible.

2. In a small bowl, combine the remaining ingredients.

3. Toss the spinach in the sauce and mix until combined. Sprinkle with a pinch of sesame seeds.

Hope this will get your kids to eat their vegetables! Let me know how it goes.