00:00Looking for a simple, tasty and nutritious vegetable side dish that is easy to prepare
00:04in advance, then this Japanese O-Hitashi might be exactly what you're looking for.
00:09You can also find this recipe on my website along with over 400 Japanese recipes, just
00:14google O-Hitashi space stachi to find the written recipe.
00:18Here I have 200 grams of oriental spinach, which is the most commonly used vegetable
00:23for this dish, wash it in cold water, paying attention to the roots which often have sounds
00:29or that it's lodged in the crevices.
00:31If you can't get oriental spinach, either leafy greens like bok choy or even apple cabbage
00:36work well too, and you can use the exact same method.
00:44Once it's washed, place in a fresh bowl of water and soak it for 10 minutes.
00:50In the meantime, we're going to make the marinade.
00:53Take a small saucepan and add 240ml of dash stock, 2 tbsp of soy sauce, and the marinade.
00:59Add 2 tbsp of mirin.
01:01Bring it to a boil, and let it bubble for about 2 minutes to burn off some of the alcohol
01:06in the mirin.
01:07As always, all the ingredients and exact measurements for this recipe can be found in the description
01:12box below.
01:13This first style sauce is called Hapoji.
01:16I'm using a fish-based dashi, so this wouldn't be suitable for fisharians or vegans, but you
01:22can of course make it with plant-based dashi if you prefer.
01:25After 2 minutes of boiling, take it off the heat and set it outside to cool.
01:30Next boil 2 litres of water in a separate pot and add 1 tbsp of salt.
01:35The salt should be 1% of the weight of the water, so adjust as necessary.
01:40Place the spinach in a pot with the roots submerged but the leaves sticking out.
01:46Hold the roots for 30 seconds.
01:47The stems at the bottom are thicker and need a little more cooking than the leaves.
01:53After 30 seconds, push the leaves down and blanch them for 15 seconds.
01:58It's important not to let the leaves boil for too long, otherwise they'll become mushy
02:02and discoloured.
02:03If you're using a different vegetable, you might need to boil it a little longer depending
02:07on the thickness.
02:09Transfer the blanched spinach to a bowl of ice water.
02:11This will shock it, stop it from overcooking and preserve its texture and colour.
02:16We're going to leave it to soak in the ice water for 10 minutes.
02:21Once 10 minutes have passed, prepare a bamboo sushi mat.
02:24We're going to use this to remove the water thoroughly.
02:27Gently squeeze the spinach and place it on the mat, following the direction of the bamboo.
02:40Roll up the mat and squeeze it over the bowl.
02:43This will remove the majority of the water without damaging it.
02:54Roll the mat and drizzle the spinach with the sauce.
02:58This will remove any remaining water.
03:00Then, you can roll it up and squeeze it once more.
03:08This process of removing the water will prevent the sauce from becoming diluted.
03:16And ensure the spinach absorbs maximum flavour.
03:21Finally, we're going to cut the spinach in half and place it in a sealable container.
03:26If your container is big enough, you don't need to cut it in half though.
03:32Hold the sauce over the top.
03:38I recommend placing a piece of plastic wrap on the surface so that it's touching the
03:43top of the spinach.
03:45This will ensure more even coverage, especially if it's not completely submerged.
03:50Place a lid on top and marinate it in the fridge for at least an hour.
03:54If you have time, it will taste even better if you wait and leave it overnight.
03:59Ok, this has finished marinating so I'm going to remove the roots and cut it into bi-sized pieces.
04:12You can place leftovers back in the sauce and leave it in the fridge.
04:16It will be good for 2-3 days depending on the weather and climate.
04:22Place it in a small dish with a drizzle of sauce and sprinkle of bonito flakes.
04:35For a plant-based version, you can omit the bonito flakes or even substitute sesame seeds instead.
04:41And that's it.
04:42I know it's simple, but spinach ohitashi is really delicious and the perfect side dish
04:47for any Japanese meal.
04:48Want even more delicious recipes?
04:51Grab my free cookbook from the link in the description.
04:55Ok, let's go over the ingredients one more time.
04:57And if you're ready to cook, grab the written instructions by clicking the full recipe box
05:02with a picture that's about to pop up on your screen.
05:05Here we go, the link to the full recipe is on the screen now.
05:08And if you want to watch more similar videos, don't miss my salad playlist popping up on
05:13your screen as well.
05:15Thanks so much for watching and I hope to see you in the next one.
05:18Bye.
Comments