Japanese Green Beans with Black Sesame Sauce | By Yuki Gomi

Japanese Green Beans with Black Sesame Sauce | By Yuki Gomi

• July 19, 2016

A while back, I was invited to a Japanese cooking class with Yuki Gomi, where we made 4 simple Japanese dishes in around 1 hour. My absolute favourite was the green beans coated in black sesame sauce, so this is the first of the 4 recipes I'll be sharing with you guys.

The black sesame sauce is the soul of this dish with it's deliciously nutty, sweet yet savoury notes. Yuki's clever use of miso in the paste brings in a savoury element which is most welcome as I've found this dish too sweet in the past. Together with the crunchy green beans, it makes a wonderful appetiser.

Ingredients:
200g green beans
1 tbsp sea salt
4 tbsp black sesame seeds
1/2 tbsp soya sauce
1 tbsp mirin
1 tsp miso
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp water

Directions:
1. Trim the ends off the green beans, cut the beans in half and wash them in cold water. Add the salt to a saucepan of water and bring to boil. Cook the beans for 2 minutes or until tender. Do not overcook them, it's important to keep them crunchy
2. Drain the beans in a colander and rinse with cold running water to cool them down. Drain again and leave them to dry
3. To make the sauce, crush the black sesame seeds in a pestle and mortar, grinding them into a powder. Gradually add in the soya sauce, mirin and miso, mixing continuously. Add the sugar and the water
4. Toss the green beans with the sauce and serve

Yuki's tips:
*Aspargus, spinach, brocolli or cauliflower all work well instead of green beans
*The sauce keeps well in the fridge for 3 days

Stay tuned for the rest of the recipes that completed this delicious meal.