Sigeumchi-namul (Seasoned Spinach)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Wide 3-quart pot or larger
• •Large bowl for cold water
• •Colander or spider strainer
• •Medium mixing bowl
• •Small mortar or the flat side of a knife for crushing sesame seeds

Instructions

1. 1

   Wash the spinach

   Trim only the dry ends from the spinach. If you have Korean spinach with pink crowns, keep the crowns and split any thick ones in half, because that part is sweet in winter. Wash the spinach in a large bowl of cold water, lifting it out instead of pouring the grit back over it. Repeat until no sand sits at the bottom of the bowl.

2. 2

   Blanch fifteen seconds

   Bring 6 cups water to a hard boil in a wide pot and add the tablespoon of salt. Lower the spinach stems first for 5 seconds, then push the leaves under and blanch 10 seconds more, 15 seconds total. The color should turn bright green and the leaves should just collapse. Do not cook it soft; the seasoning will finish the dish, not the boiling water.

   If your pot is narrow, blanch in two batches. Crowded spinach cools the water and makes you cook longer, which is how a clean namul becomes dull.
3. 3

   Chill and squeeze

   Lift the spinach straight into cold water and swish it once to stop the cooking. Drain, gather it into one bundle, and squeeze firmly until water no longer streams from it. Stop before it becomes a dry rope. Too much water weakens the soy and sesame; too much squeezing makes the stems stringy. Cut the bundle into 2-inch lengths.

4. 4

   Season by hand

   Loosen the spinach with your fingers in its own mixing bowl. Add 1 1/2 teaspoons guk-ganjang, the garlic, scallion, sesame oil, and crushed sesame seeds. Mix by hand, lifting and separating the strands so the seasoning reaches the stems as well as the leaves. Taste one stem. It should be green, nutty, and lightly savory, with garlic in the background. Add the extra 1/2 teaspoon soy sauce or the 1/8 teaspoon salt only if it tastes flat.

   Season each namul alone, in its own bowl, and taste it before it meets the rice. Spinach wants a lighter hand than bracken or soybean sprouts. Treat them all the same and they all taste tired.
5. 5

   Rest and serve

   Let the spinach sit 5 minutes, then taste again. Sesame oil blooms as it rests, and the soy settles into the stems. Mound it in a small banchan dish and scatter a few sesame seeds over the top. Serve at room temperature with rice, soup, and kimchi, the way a weeknight table is actually filled.

Chef Tips

• •Cook the month you're standing in. Sigeumchi-namul is best in cold weather, when spinach grows low and sweet. In high summer, if the bunches are limp and watery, make kongnamul-muchim (seasoned soybean sprouts) or oi-muchim (seasoned cucumber) instead, and come back to spinach when the market does.
• •Guk-ganjang seasons without darkening the leaves. If you only have regular soy sauce, start with 1 teaspoon, then add a pinch of salt if needed. Dark soy can make this little green dish look tired before it even reaches the table.
• •Do not skip the squeeze, and do not punish the spinach. One firm squeeze is enough. The leaves should separate easily after you loosen them, not sit in the bowl like a wet knot.
• •Crush the sesame seeds lightly between your fingers or in a small mortar before adding them. Whole seeds look pretty but give less flavor; crushed seeds cling to the leaves and do their work.

Advance Preparation

• •The spinach can be washed and trimmed up to 1 day ahead. Wrap it in a clean towel, tuck it into a bag, and refrigerate so the leaves stay crisp.
• •Sigeumchi-namul is best within a few hours of seasoning, but it will keep refrigerated for 2 days in a covered container. Taste after chilling; cold dulls the seasoning, so a few drops of sesame oil and a tiny pinch of salt may wake it up.
• •Do not freeze this dish. The spinach releases too much water when thawed, and no amount of careful seasoning will bring the texture back.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 45g)