#ohitashi

Ohitashi is a classic Japanese side dish of blanched vegetables, typically spinach, steeped in a savory dashi-based broth, soy sauce, and mirin. The name means "steeped," and the process involves briefly boiling greens, shocking them in cold water, squeezing out excess moisture, and then soaking them in the seasoned broth to infuse flavor. It's served chilled or at room temperature, often garnished with bonito flakes or sesame seeds, and is a light, healthy, and versatile dish that can be made with various greens or mushrooms.

I cooked two versions, a largest one with wild lettuce, which I’ve been working with for awhile now. And a small handful of the yam leaves since this was my first time cooking with them. I had nibbled a leaf a couple days ago and had no reaction, so I decided to go for it with a very tiny side dish.

The only toxic lookalike I found in the area was wild yam, which didn’t look like it would kill me. 😉 The leaves weren’t nearly as heart shaped and lacked the purple coloration on the veins.

It made a very nice green that soaked up the seasonings and had a nice mouth feel. Assuming I have no reactions to this it’ll be added to my rotation of greens.

The wild lettuce was also very good cooked this way. I did soak it in salt water for 15 minutes and then blanched it twice to reduce bitterness. But it was worth the extra work—I really like the simplicity of the seasoning with the lettuce.

Since I didn’t have dashi I used a dribble of oil from the canned sardines I used in another part of the bento, to lend a little umami to the greens.