Moyashi to horenso no pirikara gomazu-ae / bean sprouts and spinach in spicy tahini dressing with rice vinegar

A rich tahini sauce with vinegar and tobanjan spices up softly sweet blanched moyashi bean sprouts.

<Ingredients>

Handful moyashibean sprouts (soybean sprouts in photo)
1/4 bunch spinach

For gomazu dressing
1 tbsp nerigoma sesame paste or tahini
1 tbsp sake + mirin (equal parts)
1 tsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp tobanjan chili bean paste
1 tsp rice vinegar


<Directions>
1.

Remove skinny roots of moyashi, and blanch without salt.

After cooling in ice water, remove from water.

2.

In the same pot, add salt, and blanch spinach.

Squeeze out extra water, and cut into 3-4 cm.

3.

Prepare gomazu dressing.
Put sake and mirin in a medium bowl, and microwave for 30 seconds (to get rid of alcohol).

Add tahini, soy sauce, tobanjan and vinegar, and mix well.

4.

Put spinach (after squeezing out extra water again) and moyashi, and mix well.

<Notes>

• Gomazu [lit. sesame vinegar] is usually made with rice vinegar and toasted coarsely ground sesame seeds or sesame oil. Sugar and soy sauce are other common ingredients. In this recipe, I used tahini for its richer flavor, which seems to work better with moyashi.
• If using nerigoma (zumajan) sesame paste, use less than the amount given for tahini, as sesame paste is thicker than tahini.
• When blanching moyashi, salt is not added, because it tends to make moyashi soggy.
• Removing the skinny roots of moyashi improves the texture significantly.
• Spinach tends to discolor when mixed with vinegar. Add spinach to the dressing at the very end or immediately before serving.