Horensou No Goma Ae And Goma Ae Hosomaki Food

SPINACH WITH SESAME SEED DRESSING #1 (HORENSO NO GOMA AE)

Steps:

• Remove the stems before washing the spinach leaves. Bring a large pot of saslted water to a rolling boil and cook the spinach until it barely wilts. Drain and refresh the spinach under cold running water. Squeeze out excess moisture before chopping the spinach coarsely.
• Dry roast the sesame seeds in a skillet over medium-high heat and transfer them to a suribachi (Japanese grinding mortar) while still warm. Crush the sesame seeds well before adding the sugar. Continue to grind the sesame and sugar untilthe misture is quite pasty, then add the soy sauce and blend well. You can also do this in a blender or food processor, but will have to double or tripe the quantities to get the volume necessary to engage the blades of your machine; store excess in a tightly sealed jar in the refrigerator.
• Toss the chopped spinach in the dressing and serve chilled or at room temperature.

SPINACH WITH SESAME SEED DRESSING #2 (HORENSO NO GOMA AE)

Steps:

• Heat sesame seeds in a small skillet over medium-high heat, stirring or shaking pan constantly, until seeds are light brown and first popping sound occurs, about 2 minutes.
• Reserve 1 teaspoons (5 ml.) of the toasted sesame seeds. Grind remaining seeds in a mortar and pestle or grinder until smooth. Combine ground seeds, sugar, soy sauce, and dashi in a small bowl to make dressing. Set aside.
• Heat 1 quart (1 liter) water and the salt to boiling in a 2-quart saucepan; add spinach. Reduce heat to medium; simmer until spinach is tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Drain spinach. Rinse undeer cold running water; drain. Squeeze spinach to remove excess moisture. Cut into 1-inch pieces.
• Combine spinach and dressing in a medium bowl and toss lightly until thoroughly mixed. Divide evenly into 4 small bowls and garnish with reserved sesame seeds.

HORENSOU NO GOMA-AE AND GOMA-AE HOSOMAKI

Steps:

• If using bunched spinach, trim the very bottom of the stems and separate the leaves, leaving the stems intact (see Cook's Note). Rinse and drain the spinach and set aside in a colander.
• Bring 4 quarts of water to a boil in a large pot. Add the spinach to the boiling water and cook just until the leaves wilt and turn bright green, 8 to 10 seconds. Immediately drain the spinach and transfer to a large bowl filled with ice water. Drain, gently squeeze out the excess water and set aside.
• Grind the toasted sesame seeds with 1 tablespoon sugar with a suribachi and surikogi (Japanese mortar and pestle), mortar and pestle or spice grinder until ground. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon sugar and grind until finely ground. Add the soy sauce and mix until a thick paste forms. If using a mortar and pestle or spice grinder, transfer to a medium bowl. Add the blanched spinach and fold until the spinach leaves are evenly coated.
• Lay a half nori sheet textured-side up (smooth/shiny-side down) on a cutting board with one of the longer sides closest to you. Lightly moisten your fingers with ice water. Gently spread 1/2 cup of prepared sushi rice evenly over the nori, leaving a 1/2-inch strip without rice at the far long side. Carefully place the sheet rice-side up on a makisu (sushi rolling mat).
• Place 1 ounce of the spinach lengthwise in the center of the rice sheet. Use your thumbs to lift the edge of the makisu closest to you and roll the nori/rice sheet inside the makisu until the edge meets the rice. Make sure you leave the edge of the nori with no rice on it exposed.
• Lift the edge of the makisu off of the sushi roll and continue rolling the sushi roll over until the seam is on the bottom. The empty nori strip with no rice on it should seal around the outside of the sushi roll. If it doesn't, swipe a little water with your fingertip over the nori edge and let it sit seam-side down for a few seconds. Repeat with the remaining ingredients, making a total of 4 rolls.
• Dip the tip of a knife into the ice water and allow the water to run down the blade. Slice the roll into 6 even pieces and serve with extra goma-ae, soy sauce, pickled ginger and wasabi if desired.