Spinach side dish

Sigeumchi-namul is a Korean side dish (banchan) made of blanched spinach seasoned with soy sauce, garlic, and sesame oil. The spinach is only slightly cooked, leaving it a little crispy, but still soft and tasty. Because it’s so easy to make and so delicious, it’s a very popular and common side dish among Koreans. For many Koreans an easy, simple everyday meal consists of rice, kimchi, a stew (often doenjang-jjigae), kongnamul-muchim (a bean sprout side dish), and sigeumchi-namul.

It’s on our everyday table and also served at special occasions, family gatherings, BBQ parties—basically anywhere Koreans are gathering with food, sigeumchi-namul is there and among the most popular dishes, often paired with kongnamul-muchim, another favorite.

In this recipe you can replace spinach with bok choy or arugula or experiment with something new if you want. I had a potluck party with my readers a few years ago, and one of them brought his own sigeumchi-namul made with an ingredient I couldn’t recognize. I asked him and he told me it was tender kale! Blanched and prepared like sigeumchi-namul, it was so delicious!

I hope you enjoy this recipe and the remade HD video. Let me know if you make it. If you try your own experiments, let me know in the comments!

Ingredients

• 8 ounces spinach, cleaned and washed
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 green onion, chopped
• 1½ teaspoon soy sauce
• 1½ teaspoon sesame oil
• 2 teaspoon sesame seeds
• silgochu (Korean dried shredded red pepper), optional

Directions

1. Boil 8 to 10 cups of water in a large pot.
2. Blanch the spinach for 30 seconds to 1 minute with lid off, stirring with a wooden spoon.
3. Strain the spinach and rinse in cold water a couple of times to remove any residual dirt.
4. Squeeze out excess water and cut a few times into bite size pieces.
5. Mix the spinach with garlic, green onion, soy sauce, sesame oil, and sesame seeds in a mixing bowl by hand.
6. Transfer to a bowl or plate and garnish with silgochu, if used.
7. Serve with rice.