Horenso Goma-ae: Spinach with Sesame

We had this steamed spinach with sesame dressing at Sushi Taro in DC: it's cool and refreshing. I found various recipes on the web which are similar to the one in _A First Book of Japanese Cooking_ by Masako Yamaoka.

The book does this with green beans and I've done it with steamed broccoli; I bet it would be dynamite on some crunchy Wakame seaweed. I've also substituted sake or rice wine when I didn't have the Dashi.

10 ounce Spinach, stemmed
2 Tbs Sesame Seeds, toasted
1/2 Tbs Dashi (3/4 C water and 1/4 tsp granules)
1 1/2 tsp Miso, white
1 Tbs Soy
1 Tbs Sugar

Blanch the spinach briefly in boiling salted water -- a minute max -- and shock in ice water.  Fish out leaves and lay on kitchen towels to dry; this is a bit of a nuisance but you don't want them to get tangled up in a mass or it will be too dense.

Toast the Sesame Seeds in a dry skillet, then grind the Sesame Seeds with a mortar and pestle until it becomes a crumbly paste.

Dissolve the Sugar in the Soy so it doesn't have a gritty texture when you eat it; it may help to heat the Soy.
Combine all ingredients except the Spinach and adjust liquid until it has the consistency of a thick pancake batter.

Put Spinach into a bowl and stir in sauce to combine.
Serve.