Goma Ae Green Beans — Japanese Sesame Green Beans
Goma ae (ごま和え) is the Japanese side dish that fills the small empty corner of the dinner tray. Blanched vegetables tossed in ground sesame with a little sugar and soy sauce — that’s it. It takes about eight minutes, uses three pantry ingredients, and it’s the dish I make when I look at the table and think “this needs one more green thing.”
Spinach is the most famous version, but green beans are my favorite because they keep a bit of snap under the sesame. I followed Sirogohan’s method here, which is the one I trust for basic Japanese home cooking. And in the interest of honesty: I don’t own a suribachi, the ridged Japanese grinding bowl this is traditionally made in. I grind the sesame with a small hand mill — the kind that looks and works exactly like a pepper grinder — straight into a metal bowl, and mix it there. It’s faster than a suribachi and there’s nothing to wash.
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Three seasonings, nothing else. Sesame seeds, sugar, soy sauce. No dashi, no mirin, no special shopping.
- Under ten minutes. Boil for two or three minutes, mix a dressing, toss. Done.
- Works on almost any vegetable. Learn the dressing once and you can use it on spinach, broccoli, carrots, or asparagus.
- Great for bento and meal prep. It keeps for a couple of days and is eaten cold or at room temperature.
What is Goma Ae?
Goma (ごま) means sesame and ae (和え) means “dressed” or “tossed,” so goma ae is simply vegetables dressed in sesame. It’s one of the standard small side dishes — what Japanese home cooks call a kobachi, a little bowl — that rounds out a meal of rice, soup, and a main. You’ll see it in every supermarket deli case and in half the bento boxes in Japan.
The dressing is nutty and lightly sweet rather than salty, and because the sesame is freshly ground it smells wonderful the moment you mix it. It sits in the same family as namul, the Korean-style seasoned vegetables we also make constantly — but where namul leans on sesame oil, garlic, and salt, goma ae is built on ground sesame seeds and soy sauce, and skips the oil and garlic entirely.
Grinding the Sesame
This is the one step that matters. Whole sesame seeds slide off the vegetables and don’t taste of much; ground sesame releases its oil and coats everything. The traditional tool is a suribachi — a ceramic bowl with ridges cut into the inside, worked with a wooden pestle. What I actually use is a goma suri, a small sesame mill that you fill with seeds and twist like a pepper grinder. It’s cheap, it lives in the cupboard next to the salt, and it grinds a tablespoon in about ten seconds. A mortar and pestle, a spice grinder, or a few passes with the bottom of a heavy glass all work too. You want it half-ground: some seeds crushed to a coarse powder, some left whole for texture. Pre-ground sesame (surigoma) is sold in Japanese groceries and is a perfectly reasonable shortcut.
Ingredients (Serves 2–3)
| Ingredient | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Green beans | 100 g / about 3.5 oz | Trimmed and cut into 2–3 pieces |
| White sesame seeds | 1 tbsp | Toasted, then ground |
| Sugar | 2/3–1 tsp | To taste |
| Soy sauce | 1 tsp | |
| Salt | 1 tsp | For the boiling water |
The whole dish rests on the sesame, so use toasted white sesame seeds that still smell strongly nutty when you open the bag — old sesame tastes like dust and there’s nothing else here to hide behind. For grinding, a suribachi (Japanese mortar) is the traditional choice and doubles as the mixing bowl. But the tool we actually reach for is a sesame mill on Amazon — you fill it with seeds, twist it like a pepper grinder, and it’s done in seconds with nothing to wash. If you’re only going to buy one thing for this dish, buy that. Use a decent Japanese soy sauce too, since a single teaspoon carries all the seasoning.
How to Make Goma Ae Green Beans
Step 1: Trim and Cut the Beans
Line the beans up so the stem ends are even and cut the tough tops off in one go. Then cut them into bite-size lengths, two or three pieces per bean. You can cut them before boiling without a problem — green beans don’t take on much water through the cut ends.
Step 2: Boil in Salted Water
Bring a small pot of water to a boil and add about a teaspoon of salt — the guideline is 1 teaspoon of salt per 500 ml of water. Boil the beans for 2 minutes if they’re thin, 3 minutes if they’re thick. You want them cooked through but still with some bite; mushy beans make a sad goma ae.
Step 3: Cool and Dry Them Well
Drain the beans and cool them straight away in cold water — this stops the cooking and keeps the color bright green. Then dry them properly with a paper towel. Don’t rush this part: any water left on the beans dilutes the dressing and the whole thing goes watery in the bowl.
Step 4: Make the Sesame Dressing
Grind the tablespoon of sesame seeds until roughly half of them are broken down and half are still whole — I grind mine straight into the mixing bowl with the mill. Add the sugar and soy sauce and stir until it comes together into a thick, sandy paste. Taste it — it should be nutty and just slightly sweet. Adjust the sugar to your liking; this is the part people tune to their own taste.
Step 5: Toss and Serve
Add the dried beans to the bowl and toss until every piece is coated. Serve it right away while the sesame still smells fresh, or chill it for later. It’s eaten cold or at room temperature, never hot.
Tips and Variations
- Dry the vegetables properly. This is the single biggest difference between good goma ae and a watery one.
- Grind the sesame just before using. The aroma fades fast once it’s ground, so do it while the beans are boiling.
- Try it with spinach. Spinach goma ae is the classic — blanch it briefly, squeeze out the water hard, and cut into lengths.
- Other vegetables that work. Broccoli, asparagus, carrot, snap peas, or shredded cabbage all take this dressing well.
- Add a sharp note. Sirogohan suggests grated ginger, myoga, or a splash of vinegar — any of them brightens it up nicely.
- Black sesame works too. It’s earthier and more dramatic-looking, and the method is identical.
What to Serve It With
- As the small vegetable dish in a rice-soup-and-main meal, with a bowl of miso soup.
- Alongside something rich like yakiniku don or fried chicken — the nutty sweetness balances the fat.
- Next to another cold vegetable side such as yaki nasu for an easy two-dish spread.
- Packed cold into a bento box, where it’s one of the most common fillers in Japan.
Storing
Goma ae keeps in a sealed container in the fridge for about 2 days. The sesame aroma is strongest on the first day and fades after that, and the beans slowly release a little water, so pour off any liquid and give it a stir before serving. If you want to make it further ahead, boil and dry the beans in advance and keep the ground dressing separate, then toss them together just before the meal. Freezing doesn’t work — the beans turn limp.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is goma ae sauce made of?
Just three things: ground toasted sesame seeds, sugar, and soy sauce. Some recipes add a splash of dashi or mirin, but the basic home version is only those three. The ratio here is 1 tablespoon sesame to about 1 teaspoon sugar and 1 teaspoon soy sauce.
How do you pronounce goma ae?
“GO-ma AH-eh” — four syllables, with the vowels flat and even. It’s sometimes written gomaae, goma-ae, or goma-e. All refer to the same thing.
Is goma ae healthy?
It’s essentially blanched vegetables with a spoonful of sesame seeds, so yes — it’s low in calories, uses no cooking oil, and the sesame adds a little protein and healthy fat. The only added sugar is under a teaspoon for the whole dish.
Is goma ae gluten free?
Not by default, because ordinary Japanese soy sauce contains wheat. Swap in tamari or a certified gluten-free soy sauce and the dish is gluten free — nothing else in it contains wheat.
Can I use frozen green beans?
Yes. Boil them briefly straight from frozen, then cool and dry them exactly as you would fresh. They come out softer than fresh beans, so dry them especially well — frozen beans hold more water.
Goma Ae Green Beans (Japanese Sesame Green Beans)
Ingredients
Method
- Line up the green beans, cut off the tough stem ends, and cut them into bite-size lengths, 2-3 pieces per bean.
- Bring a small pot of water to a boil and add the salt (about 1 tsp per 500 ml of water). Boil the beans 2 minutes if thin, 3 minutes if thick, until cooked through but still with some bite.
- Drain, cool the beans immediately in cold water to keep the color bright, then dry them thoroughly with a paper towel. Any water left on the beans will dilute the dressing.
- Grind the sesame seeds until about half are crushed and half are still whole. Stir in the sugar and soy sauce to make a thick, sandy paste. Taste and adjust the sugar.
- Add the dried beans and toss until evenly coated. Serve cold or at room temperature.
