Horensho Hitashi (Spinach with Toasted Sesame Seeds)

Horenso hitashi is one of the foundational side dishes in Japanese home cooking: fresh spinach blanched, squeezed dry, and dressed in a light sauce of dashi, soy sauce, and sugar. It’s the kind of dish that shows up at nearly every traditional meal, and the technique is worth learning because it applies to dozens of other Japanese vegetable preparations.

Blanching the spinach as a whole bouquet, stems down in boiling salted water, cooks the thicker stalks first while the delicate leaves wilt gently from the steam above. Five minutes is enough. The immediate plunge into cold water stops the cooking and locks in that vivid green color.

Squeezing the spinach dry is the step most people don’t do thoroughly enough. You squeeze it once after draining, cut away the stalks, chop the leaves, then squeeze again. Any lingering water dilutes the dressing and makes the dish taste washed out instead of clean and concentrated.

The dressing is barely there by design. Three tablespoons of dashi, a teaspoon of soy, and half a teaspoon of sugar. It’s meant to season the spinach, not drown it. The toasted sesame seeds scattered on top add a nutty crunch that makes the whole thing come together.

Kitchen Tips

• Toast sesame seeds in a dry pan, shaking constantly. They go from toasted to burnt in seconds
• Use fresh spinach, not frozen. The texture of fresh blanched spinach is completely different
• The dressing can be made ahead and kept in the fridge. Just toss with spinach right before serving
• Squeeze the spinach in a clean kitchen towel for the driest results

Variations

• Goma-ae style: Grind the sesame seeds into a paste and blend into the dressing for a thicker, richer coating
• With bonito flakes: Skip the sesame seeds and top with a pinch of katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes) for a smokier finish