Never Cook Spinach With Oil Again! Try These Japanese Tricks for Perfect Texture

A bag of spinach goes into a hot pan with oil and collapses into a dark, slippery, oily heap that leaves a film on your teeth. Most people conclude that's what cooked spinach is. Spinach is about ninety per cent water with an enormous amount of leaf surface. In a hot pan, the water it releases drops the pan below frying temperature, so nothing browns. And all that surface soaks up oil. You end up with something both oily and boiled, which is the worst combination available. In a Japanese kitchen, spinach never goes near a pan of oil. Four steps, about five minutes. In this video: boiling salted water, twenty to thirty seconds and no longer, straight into cold water to stop the cooking, then squeezing it properly, which is the step that decides everything. Then ohitashi, goma-ae and shira-ae. Plus the honest nutrition. Blanching loses some vitamin C and folate, and it reduces oxalic acid, which causes the chalky feeling and binds iron and calcium in the gut. It's a trade, and it matters if you form kidney stones. 📗 The Japanese Home Method. Link on the channel description. 💬 Did the oily pan of leaves sound familiar? #spinach #japanesecooking #ohitashi #gomaae #blanching #vegetables #healthyeating #cookingtips #japanesefood #sidedish