Healthy and full of flavor, this dashi-infused Steamed Vegetables with Miso Sesame Sauce is the quickest way to get vegetables on your plates.  

Steamed Vegetables with Miso Sesame Sauce

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups dashi (click to learn more about this soup stock) (For steaming, I used Awase Dashi, but use Kombu Dashi for vegan/vegetarian - See Notes) (or skip and use water instead)

Vegetables for Steaming

• 1 Japanese sweet potato (Satsumaimo)
• ½ gobo (burdock root)
• ¼ kabocha (squash/pumpkin)
• 1 carrot
• 1 ear fresh corn
• 10 asparagus
• 1 head broccoli
• 1 head cauliflower
• 5 leaves napa cabbage
• 10 cherry tomatoes

Miso Sesame Sauce

• 6 Tbsp toasted white sesame seeds
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 tsp sugar
• 2 Tbsp miso
• 2 Tbsp soy sauce
• 2 Tbsp sesame oil (roasted)
• 4 Tbsp mirin
• 2 Tbsp rice vinegar
• ¼ tsp kosher/sea salt (I use Diamond Crystal; Use half for table salt)

INSTRUCTIONS

To Prepare the Miso Sesame Sauce

1. Gather all the ingredients for Miso Sesame Sauce.
   
2. Grind 6 Tbsp sesame seeds with a pestle and mortar.
3. Crush 2 cloves garlic.  Add 1 tsp sugar and 2 Tbsp miso and combine well. 
4. Add 2 Tbsp soy sauce, 2 Tbsp sesame oil, 4 Tbsp mirin, and 2 Tbsp rice vinegar.  Mix well.
5. Check the taste and add kosher salt if necessary.  I added ¼ tsp salt.

To Prepare the Vegetables

1. Prepare all the ingredients. Make dashi; otherwise, use water instead.
   
2. Cut the sweet potatoes into ¼ inch slices (uniform smaller pieces will cook faster than larger pieces) and soak in water to remove starch. Drain and set aside.
3. Wash the gobo really well and peel it thinly with a peeler. Soak in water immediately to avoid color changes and change the water once. Drain and set aside.
4. Discard the seeds from kabocha and slice thinly.
5. You can either cut the carrot into ¼ inch slices or use a peeler to peel the carrot.
6. Cut the corn on the cob into 1-inch thickness.
7. Hold each asparagus, snap and discard the shorter bottom end. Cut the asparagus in half.
8. Cut the broccoli and cauliflower into florets.
9. Cut the napa cabbage into bite-size pieces.

To Steam

1. Pour the dashi in your steamer, cover the lid, and bring it to boil on medium-high heat. As a quick guide, dashi (or water) should be at least 1-2 inches to your steamer (pot). Insert the steamer basket. Make sure the surface of the dashi (or water) is not touching the basket. If it is, take out some water.
2. When steam is coming out from the pot strongly, reduce the heat to medium and place the hard vegetables such as sweet potatoes and root vegetables. I also added kabocha squash and corn here as the rest of ingredients are fairly fast to cook. Cover the pot and set timer for 5 minutes.
3. Then add “Flower” vegetables such as asparagus, broccoli, cauliflower, and the bottom part of the napa cabbage. I also added carrot peels here. Set the timer for 3 minutes.
4. Lastly, add the leafy part of the napa cabbage and mini tomatoes. Cook for 2 more minutes.
5. Insert a bamboo skewer to check the doneness of denser vegetables. If it goes through, it’s ready to eat! Stop the steaming when the vegetables are still a bit crunchy since the residual heat will continue to cook the vegetables.
6. Serve the steamed vegetables with Miso Sesame Sauce and enjoy! During the meal, you can continue to steam the vegetables. Keep an eye on the dashi/water inside the pot. Make sure you are not running out of dashi/water. If it’s too little, add more dashi/water.

https://www.justonecookbook.com/steamed-vegetables-with-miso-sesame-sauce/

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