Spinach Banchan is an easy way to use up any spinach you have in your fridge that is no longer great for a salad. We’ve all had those moments of good intentions when we plan to eat a lot of spinach and buy the one-pound bag from the warehouse store because it’s so cheap. However, it’s hard to eat so much spinach when you’re just eating it as salad, so try making this easy side dish.
Banchan means side dish in Korean. Korean restaurants will often serve a variety of banchan to go with your main dish, and the restaurants in Hawaii are no exception. The spinach version is called “sigeumchi namul”. It’s garlicy, a little salty, and very tasty with any type of main dish.
What ingredients do you need?
Besides spinach, you just need a clove of garlic, sesame oil, soy sauce (shoyu), salt, and sesame seeds. If you do any Asian cooking at home, you probably already have most of these ingredients!
How do you make Spinach Banchan?
This is a very simple recipe. Just blanch your spinach for one minute in boiling water. Then drain the spinach, rinse it in cold water, squeeze out all the water, then season it!
Make sure that after you add the seasoning ingredients to the blanched spinach you mix everything very well and separate the spinach while mixing. This will help to evenly distribute the seasoning.
The hardest part about this recipe:
The hardest part is that there doesn’t feel like enough spinach. It’s very addicting and we can’t stop eating it! You can easily double or triple the recipe if you are planning to serve a large family or want leftovers.
If you’re feeling guilty about dumping out the water after blanching the spinach, you can always blanch other vegetables and make several different types of banchan (that’s what they do in the restaurants)! You could also use the water to make a simple soup like miso soup (a Japanese fermented soybean paste soup) or doenjang jjigae (a Korean fermented soybean paste soup).
Find more veggie side dishes to compliment your dinner below.
Spinach Banchan
Equipment
- 1 medium pot or larger
- 1 large cutting board
- 1 chef's knife
- 1 large stainless steel mesh strainer or colander
- 1 medium bowl
- measuring spoons
Ingredients
- water for boiling
- ½ pound fresh spinach
- 1 garlic clove minced
- ½ tbsp sesame oil
- ¼ tsp soy sauce
- ⅛ tsp salt
- ½ tbsp sesame seeds
Instructions
- Fill a medium pot with water and bring to a boil on high heat.
- Add the spinach and cook for 1 minute. Remove spinach with strainer or pour into a colander.
- Rinse the spinach with water to cool it. Squeeze as much water as you can out of the spinach.
- Put the spinach in a medium bowl. Add the minced garlic, sesame oil, soy sauce, and salt. Mix until the spinach is well coated with the sauce ingredients, separating the spinach as much as possible while mixing.
- Add the sesame seeds and mix to combine. Serve immediately or keep in the fridge for up to 3 days. (If keeping in the fridge for later, add the sesame seeds right before serving so they stay crunchy.)
