I’m not sure what it is about this delicious combination that makes me want to eat these every day. Although it has all the ingredients in the appropriate amounts to make a teriyaki sauce, which is what I originally intended, it wouldn’t be accurate to call the flavor that. When I’m not forced to share, it goes nicely with roasted chicken or pretty much any type of pork, even though I’m quite content with this and a bowl of rice as a meal in and of themselves.
| Prep Time: | 15 mins |
| Cook Time: | 15 mins |
| Total Time: | 30 mins |
| Servings: | 4 |
| Yield: | 4 servings |
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds (Optional)
- 1 teaspoon Asian (toasted) sesame oil
- 6 cups washed and chopped mustard greens
- ¼ cup water
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic, or to taste
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons Japanese rice wine (mirin) vinegar
- 1 teaspoon sake (Optional)
- 1 teaspoon white sugar
Instructions
- Place the sesame seeds into a large skillet over medium heat, and cook and stir constantly until the seeds are toasted a golden brown and make a continuous crackling noise, 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer the seeds immediately to a bowl to stop the cooking process. Set seeds aside.
- Place sesame oil in the hot skillet, and heat until it just begins to smoke (this should happen very fast). Place mustard greens into the hot oil, and pour in water. With a spatula, gently toss the greens until they are wilted and reduced in quantity, about 2 minutes. Mix in garlic, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, sake, and sugar.
- Bring the mixture to a boil, stir until sugar has dissolved, and cover the skillet. Reduce heat to a simmer, and cook until the greens are tender, 10 to 15 minutes. If a thicker sauce is desired, remove greens with a slotted spoon, and cook the liquid down to desired thickness; return greens to the skillet, toss in the pan juices, and sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds.
- Cook’s Note
- Mirin vinegar is mild. Another mild vinegar (apple cider vinegar is great) can be substituted, but may slightly affect the flavor. Sake is rice wine. There are cooking varieties, but table sake works just as well in this. Sherry is a common substitute, but any not-too-grapey white to blush wine will work as well in this. If desired, minced ginger and/or red pepper flakes can be added with the garlic. I don’t care for ginger, but I’m assured it’s delicious in this.
Reviews
Horrible. So bitter we couldn’t eat it. Probably need to parboil the greens and drain before sautéing.
I threw some random seeds in my greenhouse, a strip on the floor where I grow greens and radishes, and I had a big bunch of mustard greens. Found this recipe, made it – IT’S FANTASTIC! I can maybe make one more batch from my greenhouse, and then I will be off to the grocery store to get more mustard greens.
This was delicious! I de-stemmed and sliced the mustard greens into thin noodles before sautéing, and at the very end of cooking I added 2 sheets of nori, ripped into strips. The nori soaked up the remaining liquid perfectly! Such a balance of umami with a hint of sweet. Zero mustard bite remained. Next time I want to make this and add crispy-grilled broccoli, served alongside some cauliflower fried “rice”. I’m already excited to do that. Maybe tomorrow for dinner, lol. Thanks for the recipe!
I made it according to the recipe, but added tofu to make it a meal instead of a side dish. It was very good. Next time I think I’d lower the soy sauce by a tsp. Will make again.
This was really good. I made it as described less the sesame seeds and the kirin because I didn’t have it. But despite that, very good. Comes together quickly and tastes great.
Great healthy side!
Really liked this! This had a flavor combination that was really tangy and delicious. I made it nearly exactly according to the directions, but didn’t have sake on hand, so I omitted that step. Afterwards, I mixed in leftover steak that I cubed and some rice. I will definitely make again.
Left 4 stars because even though it didnt turn out quite 5 star tasty, that was due to my ineptitude in the kitchen and just a small mistake in the recipe author’s ingredient description list. I didnt dry my greens well enough after rinsing so i was left with a way soggier (and for an already supposed to be wilted and soggy dish, i mean REALLY soggy) plate of greens than i intended. I also added a bit of white vinegar as i was out of rice wine vinegar but…as it turns out i think i wasnt supposed to add vinegar at all after re reading this recipe. I still added mirin which was good because i love just about anything if it has mirin as an ingredient. Next time i will add chilli flakes as the chili sesame oil didnt seem to make it as spicy as it has made stuff in the past. Thanks for the interesting recipe!
I used turnip greens
Great recipe! I did add some pork scallini and mushrooms. Next time, because I will definetely make again, I will add more veggies like onions, zucchini, etc. yummy
Wow! So tasty! Easy! Quick! Fabulous. I ATE THE WHOLE FIRST BATCH ALL BY MYSELF IN ONE SITTING… even though I kept trying to convince myself to save half for later (and even though it was a little bitter BECAUSE I had chopped the greens too coarsely….. *blush*… THE SECOND TIME, I CHOPPED THE GREENS INTO THINNER STRIPS, and shared it with my family. That time, I served it with Korean Beef Bowl instead of by itself. WE FINISHED THIS DISH EVEN THOUGH WE DIDN’T FINISH THE BEEF!!! When combined with Korean Beef Bowl, it’s very quick, easy, and one of our TOP TEN FAVORITE MEALS…. But ?with mustard greens? go figure! Thanks so much for sharing, Trepto!
Excellent flavor! I served it over roasted mahi-mahi and it paired wonderfully.
This is great, but the mustard greens really shrink down to nothing. Will use more next time. Very good.
I was searching for a new recipe for greens and we loved this, and our company did too. There were no leftovers. The only thing I did differently, is after I washed and chopped the greens I put them in a large bowl; then I donned a pair of disposable gloves (to prevent my hands from turning green) and massaged the greens for 1-5 minutes and then rinsed them. I feel this helped make the greens less bitter. This is one of my favorite recipes now!
Mirin isn’t vinegar but sweetened rice wine. We just had standard rice vinegar in the pantry and used that. Tasted fine: one of the two vegetable non-enthusiasts in the household had seconds. I’ll probably try ginger next time around. If you post any more recipes, trepto, I’d like to know. 🙂
The very best recipe for greens I’ve ever tried. I made black mustard greens from our farmer’s market as a side dish tonight with a shrimp fried rice main. This recipe is wonderful. I would note, though, that Mirin is sweetened rice wine, not rice wine vinegar. I did use it (rather than rice vinegar) and we liked the mellow smoothness it added. Using regular rice wine vinegar would result is something more tart.
I added some sliced green onion,too. I would recommend tripling the cooking time.
This was actually really good. My M-greens were starting to bolt, so I cut some back and decided to try something new. This dish was a Home run! I was a little worried as I was making it, but in the end it turned out just perfect.
ok – just not great.
I’m trying to expand my “like” list of vegetables beyond spinach, pickles, and green beans. This was a success! If you need more kick, add more garlic – I added an extra teaspoon. I will use this recipe again with mustard greens, but I think it would also be great with kale, collards, and other greens. Yum!
I’m usually not a fan of mustard greens because of the bitterness, but this is how I always fix them now. Great recipe! My 1 year-old really likes them too!