Green Beans with Sesame Dressing

I love sesame dressing for meats or vegetables. The aroma, texture and colour of sesame seeds enrich the whole dish and bring it up to another level. When it comes to using sesame seeds, I often toast them before use, or I can say, I let the sesame seeds dry pan-fry over medium-low heat (that’s stir-frying without any oil on a frying pan). The heat would bring up the fragrance of the seeds and make it much easier to mash. For making the sesame dressing, I used a kind of naturally brewed Japanese soy sauce, that brings in rich soy flavour, yet not too salty. This dish can be served as a side or salad.

Green Beans with Sesame Dressing (Printable recipe)

Ingredients:

• 300 gm green beans
• 35 gm toasted sesame seeds
• 2 Tbsp sugar
• 100 ml Yamasa soy sauce (or any kind of Japanese you like)
• 2 tsp mirin
• salt, to taste

Method:

1. Rinse green beans and drain well. Trim both ends. Blanch in salted boiling water for 3 minutes. The beans should be cooked and still crunchy. Drain and immediately rinse in cold water. Pat dry.
2. To make the sesame dressing: Place the sesame seeds into a mortar (or use a food processor to process briefly, and make sure not to overprocess.) Grind the seeds until almost a paste, then add the sugar, mirin, and soy sauce. Mix well. Season with salt if needed.
3. Put green beans in a large bowl. Mix the sesame dressing with the green beans. Arrange in a serving bowl or a serving plate. Sprinkle more toasted sesame seeds if desired.

Tips:

• I used Yamasa soy sauce, that is naturally brewed and not too salty.
• It's better to toast sesame seeds before grinding. I often dry fry them in a pan. When you smell the aroma, it’s done. Beware not to burn them.