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I never get tired of eating spinach. Good thing it’s so good for you!
This is a fun take on spinach, a Korean version, with the spinach wilted in sesame oil with garlic, and sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds.
I found the recipe years ago in Mark Bittman’s The Best Recipes in the World.
In typical Bittman style, the spinach is quick, easy, and good.
Updated, from the recipe archive. First posted November, 2005
Spinach with Sesame and Garlic Recipe
If you are using bagged baby spinach, the presoaking is not necessary, as that spinach is pretty clean. Also baby spinach does not need to be chopped. The spinach you get in bunches from the farmers market can have a lot of dirt at the root ball that needs to be washed out before you use the spinach.
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons toasted (dark) sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 pound fresh spinach (if using mature spinach, soak in water to clean, drain, squeeze out excess water, remove and discard large stems, roughly chop leaves)
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce (use gluten-free soy sauce for gluten-free version)
- Salt to taste
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
Method
1 Toast the sesame seeds: If you haven't already toasted the sesame seeds, do that first. Heat a stick-free skillet on medium high. Add raw sesame seeds and use a spatula or wooden spoon to stir.
The seeds may make a popping noise and jump up, almost like popcorn. They will toast very quickly, so stir constantly until they begin to brown and smell like they are toasted.
Remove from pan into a separate bowl as soon as they are done.
2 Cook garlic and spinach in sesame oil: Heat 2 tablespoons of the sesame oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add the garlic. As soon as the garlic begins to sizzle, add the spinach and cook, stirring occasionally, until the spinach is completely wilted. Turn the heat to low.
3 Add sugar and soy sauce: Stir in the sugar and soy sauce. Remove from the heat. Add salt to taste.
Serve hot, warm, room temperature, or cold, drizzled with the remaining sesame oil and sprinkled with sesame seeds.
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Adapted from The Best Recipes in the World.
Elise Bauer is the founder of Simply Recipes. Elise launched Simply Recipes in 2003 as a way to keep track of her family's recipes, and along the way grew it into one of the most popular cooking websites in the world. Elise is dedicated to helping home cooks be successful in the kitchen. Elise is a graduate of Stanford University, and lives in Sacramento, California.
Spinach with Sesame and Garlic
I assume it’s Bittmann’s mistake, but one never does the frying in toasted sesame oil. Too bad to see this error repeated. Here’s one of a zillion examples of a standard recipe and process: https://asiasociety.org/blog/asia/stir-fried-purslane-chinese-style.
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Hi Karen,
You’re saying the toasted sesame oil should be used for finishing, correct? And that’s because heat can damage its flavor? What oil do you prefer for stir frying? Looking at the purslane recipe made me want to go find some. Usually there’s enough growing around my yard I can cook a few batches, but this year it’s pretty lean.
Very good! I added a touch of lemon juice and gave it a touch of acidity
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A really tasty departure from our usual wilted spinach (baby spinach, EVOO, garlic, S&P, maybe lemon juice); though sugar should be reduced by half. We’ll be using it again, and look forward to introducing it to dinner guests. Next time I’ll try Juan’s suggestion to put sesame seed in with garlic — I’ve incinerated so much sesame seed over the years that I’m gun shy, and mine this time weren’t as nutty brown as they should be.
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I combined step 1 with step 2, adding sesame seeds and garlic at same time, turned out great! Especially with spicy sesame oil.
I did this and ended up not tasting the sesame seeds. I wish I would have toasted the sesame seeds first.
Used 2 six oz. bags of fresh spinach, which shrunk a surprising amount (even for spinach haha) and was about enough for 4 small portions. Also omitted the sugar, and the recipe turned out great!
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