Goma-ae
on Mar 20, 2025
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This Japanese cold spinach dish is very flavorful, thanks to an umami-rich sesame-soy dressing.
This classic Japanese dish features cold-cooked spinach or other greens tossed with a sesame-forward dressing. It’s so flavorful but quite healthy because the main ingredient in the goma-ae recipe is just lightly cooked dark greens, which are packed with nutrients. Sometimes, this dish is spelled goma-ae, sometimes gomaae, sometimes gomae. It’s pronounced go-MAH-ae.
Goma-ae is often made at home but is also popular at sushi restaurants and izakayas, which are like Japanese pubs. My friend Risa Nishimori helped me develop this recipe. Her dad was a Japanese chef and restauranteur, and while I never knew him, his (now closed) restaurant, Tatany, in NYC, was one of the first places I truly fell in love with sushi and Japanese food. Years later, I met his daughter, who runs the Japanese pottery studio that I have been a member of for years — worlds beautifully colliding!
This is a naturally vegan goma-ae recipe unless you choose to top it with bonito flakes at the end. Goma-ae can be served as an appetizer or a side dish, and it easily complements any Japanese or Asian dish, adding a beautiful bright green color to the plate. Try it with Chicken Yaki Udon, Japanese Miso-Glazed Eggplant, or Garlic Noodles.
Table of Contents
What Is Gomae?
Goma-ae is Japanese boiled greens with sesame sauce. Goma means sesame seeds and the “ae” part refers to tossing the greens and making it into a salad of sorts.
Any greens can be used to make goma-ae: broccoli rabe, spinach, or even romaine. Komatsuna is a type of Japanese spinach that has a bit of a mustardy flavor. Goma-ae is often made with this leafy green in Japan, and if you can get your hands on it, it’s a bit stronger in flavor and less tender than spinach and works perfectly with the goma-ae dressing.
More mature spinach is also less tender than young spinach. Don’t use baby spinach in this recipe — it’s so delicate and will wilt down to nothing when blanched.
Ingredients
- Spinach – One pound of spinach looks like a lot (it is a lot!), but when dunked into the boiling water, it wilks down to a fraction of its volume. You can also use Japanese spinach (oshitashi) or other Japanese greens like shuniku (Chrysanthemum greens), or komatsuna. Or try it with collard greens, kale, or even broccolini!
Kitchen Smarts
Yes, you can use frozen spinach to make gomae, but I really love it made with fresh. If you use frozen spinach make sure to buy whole leaf frozen spinach, not chopped.
Goma-ae Sauce Ingredients
This Japanese sesame sauce is traditionally made with a mortar and pestle. You might see the sauce referred to as goma dare, though the sauce can also be used with other dishes. Try it on any steamed or boiled vegetables, chilled tofu, cold udon or other noodles, grilled meat, on rice bowls, or as a salad dressing.
- Sesame seeds – You’ll want to quickly toast these in a dry, hot skillet to bring out the nutty sesame flavor, and then grind them up, which allows them to blend into the sauce. You can find sesame seeds in supermarkets in the spice aisle or with the Asian ingredients, You can also buy sesame seeds in Asian or Middle Eastern markets. Another option is using Japanese toasted sesame paste called nerigoma instead of the sesame seeds.
- Soy sauce – You can use less sodium soy sauce or regular. Just a little bit adds umami flavor and a touch of saltiness. Use tamari or gluten-free soy sauce if there are gluten intolerances.
- Sake – Japanese rice wine, just a teeny tiny bit to amplify the flavor.
- Mirin – Another type of Japanese rice wine, this one used almost exclusively in Japanese cooking. Again, just a bit will amplify flavor and add a bit of sweetness to balance out the savory flavors in this recipe.
- Sugar – If you prefer to double the amount of mirin to 1 teaspoon and skip the sake, you can skip the sugar.
- Bonito flakes – These are optional and will turn it from a vegan recipe into a pescatarian one (bonito flakes are dried tuna flakes, used in dashi and all throughout Japanese cooking).
How to Make Goma-ae
- Cook the spinach: Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Fill a large bowl with ice water. When the water comes to a boil, dunk the spinach into the pot. Cook for 30 seconds, then drain and immediately plunge into the ice water bath. Let sit for 3 minutes, swishing it around, until cool.
- Make the sauce: While the spinach cools, make the sauce. Toast the sesame seeds in a dry skillet (see recipe for more detailed directions!). Turn them out of the pan into a mortar or a small food processor. Grind or pulse to crush the seeds. Add the soy sauce, sake, mirin, and sugar, and use a mortar and pestle or pulse to blend well.
Kitchen Smarts
As soon as the sesame seeds start to color and the aroma becomes notable, remove them from the heat — they can go from light brown to overtoasted very quickly. If you prefer, you can crush the sesame seeds with a rolling pin or pulse in a mini food processor, then combine them with the rest of the ingredients.
- Drain the spinach: Use your hands to squeeze out all of the excess water. Give the spinach a few chops with a knife on a cutting board. You don’t want to finely chop the spinach, just cut it into easy bit size pieces.
- Combine: Toss the spinach with the dressing and mound onto a plate.
- Serve: Top with bonito flakes and extra sesame seeds, if desired, and serve cold.
Storage
You can make gomae a few days in advance and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
What to Serve With Gomae
More Japanese Side Dish and Salad Recipes
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Goma-ae
Equipment
- Mortar and pestle (optional)
- Small food processor (optional)
Ingredients
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Fill a large bowl with ice water. When the water comes to a boil, dunk the spinach into the pot. Cook for 30 seconds, then drain and immediately plunge into the ice water bath. Let sit for 3 minutes, swishing it around, until cool.
- While the spinach is cooling, make the sauce. Place the sesame seeds in a small, dry skillet. Heat over medium heat until you can smell the sesame and they start to turn golden brown, about 3 minutes. As soon as the seeds start to color and the aroma becomes notable, remove them from the heat — they can go from light brown to overtoasted very quickly.
- Turn the sesame seeds out of the pan into a mortar or a small food processor. Grind or pulse to crush the seeds. Add the soy sauce, sake, mirin, and sugar, and use a mortar and pestle or the back of a fork to mush together.
- Drain the spinach and use your hands to squeeze out all of the excess water. Give the spinach a few chops with a knife on a cutting board. Toss the spinach with the dressing and mound onto a plate.
- Serve cold, topped with additional sesame seeds and bonito flakes, if desired.
Notes
- You can double the mirin instead of using the sugar if you prefer.
- You can make gomae a few days in advance and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
- Leave out the bonito flakes for a vegetarian/vegan dish.
- Use tamari or gluten-free soy sauce if there are gluten intolerances.
