Horenso, moyashi, sumookusaamon no ohitashi / spinach, mung bean sprouts and smoked salmon marinated in light broth

Alderwood smoked salmon, a local specialty, works as a great addition to enhance the flavor, aroma and texture of ohitashi, a simple vegetable dish. Soaking the smoked salmon takes away some of the sodium, so this is a good way to enjoy smoked salmon if you miss it because of following a low-sodium diet. Make sure to use only a small amount of smoked salmon -- the main characters of this dish are vegetables, and overuse of smoked salmon could make it taste fishy. This recipe also works as a quick, reduced-sodium version of a past recipe featuring shiozake salted salmon, shungiku garland chrysanthemum and moyashi mung bean sprouts. 

1/2 of recipe:
27 calories; 4.3 g protein; 0.9 g fat; 1.7 g carbohydrate; 0.5 g net carbs; 102 mg sodium; 4 mg cholesterol; 1.2 g fiber


<Ingredients>

 

Handful of spinach (60 g in photo)

Handful of moyashi mung bean sprouts (60 g in photo)

Tiny handful of alderwood smoked salmon (32 g in photo)

For ohitashi marinade
150 cc dashi (katsuo-kobu bonito-kelp dashi recommended)
1 tsp usukuchi soy sauce


<Directions>
1.

Mix dashi and usukuchi soy sauce. Set aside.
Let cool at least to room temperature, if using hot dashi.
(It should taste weaker than usual ohitashi marinade, as smoked salmon adds saltiness at the end.)

2.

Bring plenty of water to boil.
Place moyashi in a colander (optional), and blanch for 20-30 seconds.

Transfer to a zaru strainer or plate, spread in a single layer, and cool.

3.

In the same pot, blanch spinach.
First put stem ends, then leaf ends.

When leaves brighten, immediately transfer to ice water to cool.

When cool, squeeze out excess water, and cut into 3-4 cm.

4.

Squeeze spinach once again, and add to dashi + soy sauce mixture while breaking apart spinach.

Add moyashi.

Add smoked salmon while roughly crumbling by hand. 

Gently mix, and let sit 10-15 minutes.

Turn once or twice for even flavoring while soaking.

<Notes>

• If usukuchi soy sauce is not at hand, use regular soy sauce and a tiny pinch of salt.
• Do not soak blanched moyashi in water to cool or stop cooking, as it makes moyashi soggy. Instead, remove from boiling water while sprouts still seem a bit stiff. Above, the metal colander lowers the water temperature, so blanching time is longer than when I use a bamboo colander/basket. If using a bamboo basket, 15 seconds should be enough.
• Salt is commonly added to boiling water when blanching spinach or other leafy greens to obtain a bright green color. It is skipped above, as it adds some sodium to the final dish, and immediately removing spinach from boiling water as color brightens and quickly soaking it in ice water results in a bright color that is more than acceptable.
• When serving, place goodies first, then pour a small amount of liquid to keep them moist. The liquid is not for consumption especially if you are on a low-sodium diet, and the above nutrition figures assume that you do not consume the excess liquid.
• Leafy greens with distinctive aroma or taste, such as shungiku garland chrysanthemum and arugula, result in an especially tasty dish. If they are not available, mustard greens, daikon radish leaves, kabu turnip leaves, komatsuna or other leafy greens work just fine.
• The above nutrition figures are for reference only, as usual. They are based on locally purchased smoked salmon (1.8% sodium content; silver salmon) and information at  Seattle Fish Company (king salmon).
• If using shiozake salted salmon, first desalinate then grill before using it in main cooking, especially if you need to watch your sodium intake.