Korean Seasoned Spinach~ Sigeumchi Namul 시금치 나물

Today, I am sharing the Korean seasoned spinach that I always made as banchan. It is one of the most common banchan that will appear on Korean's table. Sigeumchi namul is normally made of blanched spinach seasoned with soy sauce, sesame oil, sesame seeds, minced garlic and chopped spring onions. There are few types of spinach available and any type of it is alright to use for making Siguemchi namul, not necessary has to be Korean spinach. There are also other type of seasoned spinach side dish such as Sigeumchi namul with gochujang and Sigeumchi namul with mashed tofu that I made before. I will share those recipes next time when I make again.

Ingredients:

Spinach (about 300gram)

Cold or ice water

For the seasoning:

Soy sauce - 1.5 tablespoon 

Sesame oil - 1 tablespoon 

Sesame seeds - 1 teaspoon 

Minced garlic - 1-2 clove

Chopped spring onion - 1 stalk

How to cook:

Step 1

Wash and clean off the root, usually the whole plant can be eaten including stems and roots. However I gotten a Chinese spinach, so I need to separate the leaf from stems, then remove the outer layer of fiber on stems and discard only the root edge. 

Step 2

Bring the water to boil in a pot. Once the water is boiling, blanch the spinach until wilted. Usually took about a minute or less.

Step 3
Remove the spinach immediately and soak in cold water, rinse off the water and again soak the spinach in another round of cold water to make the spinach chill. 

Note: I use cold water from water purifier. If you don't have water purifier with cold water function, you may need to prepare the cold water ahead before cooking (if prefer) or just rinse it thru running tap water until it is cool down. 

Step 4
Gently squeeze out the excess water using your fist.

Step 5
In a bowl, prepare the seasoning~ 1.5 tablespoon of soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of sesame oil, 1 teaspoon minced garlic, sesame seeds and chopped spring onion. Place the blanched spinach into the bowl and mix well. and it is ready to serve.

It can be store in fridge in airtight container for up to a day if not consume. We normally prefer make fresh and eat immediately. Beside eaten as a banchan (side dish), sigeumchi namul is use to make bibimbap too! You may also check my bibimbap recipe in the blog.