Kuro Goma-ae by Yuki Gomi

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 50 minutes
Servings: 4 (approx 900g)

Green beans with black sesame sauce

Goma-ae is a very popular Japanese home-cooked dish. I love the aroma of the black sesame seeds and the sweet and nutty flavour of the sauce. Use a surikogi and suribachi or a regular pestle and mortar to grind the sesame seeds. I always cut the beans in half, because it is better to have bite-size pieces of food when eating with chopsticks.

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 200g green beans
• 1 tablespoon of sea salt

For the black sesame sauce

• 4 tablespoons of black sesame seeds
• 1 tablespoon of mirin
• ½ tablespoon of soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon of miso
• 1 tablespoon of brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon of water

Method

1. Trim the ends off the green beans, cut the beans in half and wash them in cold water.
2. Add the salt to a saucepan of water and bring to the boil. Cook the beans for 2 minutes or until tender. Do not overcook – it’s important to keep them crunchy!
3. Drain the beans in a colander and rinse with cold running water to cool them down. Drain again and leave them to dry.
4. To make the sauce, crush the sesame seeds in a surikogi and suribachi or pestle and mortar, grinding them into a paste.
5. Gradually add the mirin, soy sauce and miso, mixing continuously.
6. Add the sugar and water.
7. Toss the green beans with the sauce and serve.

Tips

• Asparagus, spinach, broccoli or cauliflower all work well instead of green beans.
• The sauce keeps well in the fridge for 3 days.