Green Bean Gomaae (胡麻和え) is one of the vegetable side dishes that my mom taught me to make from scratch when I was young. The aromatic and nutty sesame sauce adds just the right touch to the vegetables. As green beans pair well with almost every Japanese meal, we would serve this dish regularly at the family dinner. It’s fresh-tasting, delicious, and super simple. Whenever you need a quick veggie, this salad will always be a perfect match. It’s the one you’ll make again and again, and you may want to memorize this recipe!
What is Gomaae?
Gomaae (sometimes written goma-ae or goma ae) is a Japanese side dish with vegetables lightly coated in sesame sauce. In Japanese, goma (胡麻) means sesame seeds and ae (和え) means dressed with sauce/dressing. Yes, the double “a” is correct! For this dish, we crush toasted sesame seeds and season them with soy sauce and sugar. You will wonder why it’s so simple yet incredibly delicious. The sesame sauce is versatile and you can dress all kinds of vegetables with it! The top two popular choices are green beans and spinach.
Why You’ll Love This Dish
Just 4 ingredients: Green beans, sesame seeds, soy sauce, and sugar. That’s it! Easy to make: Takes less than 15 minutes! Versatile: You can use other veggies if you don’t have green beans. Delicious: Everyone loves it and wants more! A sure way to eat more vegetables. Make-ahead friendly: It stores well in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Ingredients for Green Bean Gomaae
green beans – I use either regular green beans or French green beans called haricots verts toasted white sesame seeds – you could use black sesame seeds or a combination of the two, but be aware that black sesame seeds have a stronger aroma and taste; a good source of vitamins, minerals, fiber, healthy fats, and protein soy sauce – I recommend Japanese soy sauce instead of other Asian varieties for the right flavor; for gluten-free, use GF soy sauce sugar – to add sweetness to balance out the saltiness of the soy sauce
How to Make Green Bean Gomaae
Please see the recipe card below for detailed instructions.
Helpful Tools: Japanese Mortar and Pestle
For gomaae, we use a Japanese ceramic mortar called suribachi (すり鉢) and wooden pestle called surikogi (すりこぎ). These are helpful tools in Japanese cooking to grind sesame seeds and nuts, mash vegetables and tofu, or mix ingredients. Most Japanese households have these tools to easily make gomaae. I always recommend getting a bigger suribachi bowl if you can. That way, you can add all the salad ingredients into the sauce you just made in it and easily toss them together. Two of my favorite suribachi bowls are roughly 10 inches (25 cm) in diameter:
Japanese-style large ceramic mortar (suribachi) (use promo code “JOC10” to get 10% off) Japanese-style 9.5″ pestle (surikogi) (use “JOC10” to get 10% off)
Cooking Tips for Green Bean Gomaae
Other Vegetables To Use for Gomaae
No green beans today? Try different variations with these veggies!
Asparagus Avocado Bean sprouts Broccoli & Broccolini – my kids’ favorite! Burdock root (gobo) Carrot Cauliflower Chrysanthemum greens (shungiku) – my mom’s favorite Cucumber Kabocha Komatsuna – Mr. JOC’s favorite! Okra Spinach – try my recipe for Spinach Gomaae Tofu –add tofu to gomaae to make Shiraae, a variation of gomaae!
Why don’t we make more sauce for the green beans?
The sesame dressing is not meant to be heavy and saucy. The green beans are coated only lightly with the sauce. For a half pound of green beans, you will need just 1 tablespoon of soy sauce and 1/2–1 tablespoon of sugar.
Can I use black sesame seeds?
You can, but please be aware that black sesame seeds have a stronger aroma and taste.
Can I use another vegetable other than green beans?
Sure! I listed above some of the vegetables that work with sesame sauce, so please check it out! Wish to learn more about Japanese cooking? Sign up for our free newsletter to receive cooking tips & recipe updates! And stay in touch with me on Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, and Instagram.
