Sigeumchi Namul — Sesame Spinach
Half a kilo of spinach collapses to a handful in forty-five seconds, then gets wrung out and dressed while still warm.
Why it works
The blanch is deliberately short: spinach is mostly water, and forty-five seconds in a rolling boil sets the colour before the leaves go grey. Squeezing the cooked spinach genuinely dry is the whole recipe — a wet ball dilutes the sesame oil into a puddle, while a dry one drinks it and holds the seasoning on the leaf.
Method
- Boil the kettle and pour the water into your widest pan over a high heat. Set a colander in the sink.
- Push the spinach under in two batches, 45 seconds each. Drain into the colander and run the cold tap over it for 20 seconds, no longer — cool enough to handle, not cold.
- Squeeze a handful at a time over the sink until no more water comes out. You want four tight green balls about the size of a plum. Pull them apart into a bowl.
- Add the sesame oil, garlic, soy, salt and spring onion and turn it through with your fingers so the strands separate and coat. Scatter the seeds over at the table. It all fits in the four minutes a piece of fish takes to rest.
For the toddler
Pull one of the four squeezed balls aside at the end of step 3, before the soy, salt and raw garlic go in. Dress theirs with a couple of drops of sesame oil and nothing more. Chop it short with scissors so there are no long strands, and either crush the sesame seeds fine or leave them off. A heaped spoonful is a portion.
How the toddler notes workChef’s notes
Chard, watercress or young kale, blanched the same way; kale wants 90 seconds rather than 45.
Bagged pre-washed spinach and a kettle already boiled puts this at five minutes flat.
Grilled mackerel and rice, or anything gochujang-heavy that needs a cool, plain green beside it.
Keeps 3 days chilled and is meant to be eaten fridge-cold. Do not reheat; loosen it with a few drops of sesame oil.