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Blanched Greens with Soy Sauce (Ohitashi)

Yields1 Serving

blanched greens with soy sauce (ohitashi)

 1 handful of savory greens such as spinach or kale
 1 dash soy sauce
1

The ingredients for this recipe are very simple.

Ingredients for Blanched greens with soy sauce

2

Prepare a large bowl of ice water.

Bowl of ice water

3

Set water to boiling.

water boiling

4

Remove the firmest parts of your greens. This example, Thai spinach, is soft, so you can easily remove the hard stems by pinching off the leaves. For a harder-veined plant like chard, you would need to use a knife to slice out the central vein from each leaf. In general, cut the greens as little as possible.

removing stems from greens

5

Thoroughly wash any dirt from your leaves.

wash greens

6

Add the greens to boiling water. Reduce heat to simmer, and simmer for one minute.

blanching greens

7

As quickly and safely as possible, transfer the greens from the boiling water into the ice water. Cool for about one minute.

greens in ice water

8

Drain the greens and pick out the ice cubes.

greens with ice cubes

9

Forcefully squeeze the blanched greens to press out moisture.

squeeze blanched greens

10

Slice the greens into pieces that can easily picked up by chopstick.

slice blanched greens

11

Place in a dish and serve as a small side dish (okazu). It should be cold and splashed with a bit of soy sauce.

This dish keeps well in the fridge for about four days, and the spinach absorbs more of the soy sauce flavor over time.

blanched greens with soy sauce (ohitashi)