Whether pickled, raw, or steamed, vegetable side dishes of every color and variety are a staple in Japanese home cooking. They provide freshness and nutrients to complete a meal. Today, I’ll show you how to make Green Beans Shiraae (白和え)—a blanched vegetable dressed with flavorful mashed tofu. Refreshing and full of flavor, it’s a vegetable side dish that I personally make a lot year round.
What is Shiraae?
Shiraae (白和え), pronounced “shi-ra-ah-eh,” is a vegetable side dish with a creamy dressing of mashed tofu, toasted sesame seeds, white miso, and a touch of sugar. Green vegetables such as green beans and spinach are blanched and seasoned with soy sauce before mixing into the tofu mixture. Shiraae is one of the signature dishes of shojin ryori (精進料理), Japanese Zen Buddhist vegetarian/vegan cuisine. The tofu provides the protein while the greens add freshness, color, and texture. Therefore, this is a vegan-friendly dish that everyone can enjoy.
Variations and Substitutions for Shiraae
Substitute a different vegetable: Besides green beans and spinach, you can use thin strips of asparagus or any seasonal vegetables you have. I like using chrysanthemum greens to make Shungiku Shiraae, too. Combine with other ingredients: To keep things fresh, colorful, and fun, I sometimes make shiraae with a combination of spinach, julienned carrot, konnyaku (konjac), and hijiki seaweed. Vary the seasonings: For a more complex flavor, you can also add dashi and mirin to the dressing.
Ingredients You’ll Need
medium-firm tofu (momen dofu) green beans soy sauce toasted white sesame seeds sugar white miso – I use Hikari Miso® Organic White Miso kosher salt – I use Diamond Crystal brand
How To Make Green Bean Shiraae
This dish keeps in the fridge for up to 24 hours; however, I recommend consuming it soon.
5 Tips To Make Shiraae
1. Drain the tofu
It’s tricky how much you should drain your tofu, but you can always make the adjustment each time. You do not want to dilute your dressing with excess water from the tofu. At the same time, you do not want to remove the water completely as moist tofu adds a tender texture to the dish. To find the balance, I usually drain for 15–30 minutes. If I want to shorten it to 15 minutes, I would put something heavy on top of the tofu to facilitate the draining process. If I have 30 minutes, I would not put any weight and let it drain naturally.
2. Toast the sesame seeds
Most of the sesame seeds sold in packages are already toasted. However, you can toast it again in a dry frying pan to bring out more fragrance.
3. Use white miso
For the creamy tofu dressing, I like to use white miso (shiro miso 白味噌) because the color and sweet flavor complement the mixture. I used Hikari Miso® Organic White Miso in this recipe. Hikari Miso has been my go-to miso for over a decade. You can find Hikari Miso® products in your local Japanese grocery stores and Asian markets.
4. Mash the tofu till smooth and creamy
Unless you prefer a chunky tofu texture, I recommend smoothing out the mixture until silky. When chilled, the mashed tofu gives a nice refreshing taste and it’s delicious!
5. Season the vegetables with soy sauce before mixing
Be sure to season the blanched vegetables with soy sauce first. This way, you can shake off any excess liquid before adding them to the tofu mixture.
Kitchen Tools for Mashed Tofu Salad
If you like to make this mashed tofu salad regularly, it’s worth getting a set of Japanese-style mortar and pestle, called suribachi (すり鉢) and surikogi (すりこぎ). The inside of the ceramic suribachi is combed to create spirals of fine, jagged grooves that efficiently mix, grind, and mash ingredients with a wooden surikogi. Since the ceramic bowl has a beautiful rustic look, you could serve it directly at the table. Planning to get one yourself? My recommendation is to go with a bigger suribachi. Not only it can be used as a serving dish, but it also makes grinding a lot easier. With a bigger bowl, you don’t have to worry about spilling ingredients from the side.
More Vegan-Friendly Side Dishes
Looking for more vegan-friendly side dishes? Here are some of our favorites!
Gomaae (Spinach Salad with Sesame Dressing) Chrysanthemum Greens and Tofu Salad (Shungiku Shiraae) Spinach Ohitashi Spinach with Sesame Miso Sauce Bitter Melon Salad with tofu sauce
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. Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on May 11, 2011. It’s been updated with new images and content in December 2019.
