Creamy Zesty Lemon Broccoli Ae

This is a twist on broccoli dipped in mayo. Since it is being paired with my nice healthy tofu burgers, I decided to use light mayonnaise but feel free to use regular. I wanted to take some time to explain what ae (pronounced ahhh eh) dishes are. They are basically, some type of vegetable mixed in a sauce and served as an okazu. The kanji for ae, used in this context, means to use seasonings (i.e. soy sauce, vinegar, salt) and mixing it together with food, but usually it's with vegetables.
I will continue to post more vegetable ae recipes such as classic spinach goma ae/gomaae.

Ingredients (2 Servings)
2 cups of boiled broccoli with the water squeezed out (approximately 2 small broccoli crowns)
1 Tablespoon of lemon juice
2 Tablespoons of light mayonnaise
Lemon zest cut in to nice long slivers (about a third of a small lemon)
1/2 Tablespoon of soy sauce


1) Cut up your broccoli florets into small bite size pieces. If the florets are large cut them into 3 or 4 even pieces.
2) Boil the broccoli. Don’t add salt because you want to control the amount of salt going into the sauce. Cook them until they are no longer crunchy but don’t over cook them. The broccoli absorbs the sauce better if the broccoli is a little soft.
3) When the broccoli is done. Drain and wash with cold water.
4) Grab 5-6 florets and squeeze the water out of them. It’s easier to squeeze the water out if you point the stems up and use your fingers to squeeze the water out of the florets. Repeat twice to get all the water out.
5) In a medium size bowl, mix the mayo, soy sauce, lemon juice and lemon zest.
Add the broccoli and serve cold.

Cut lemon zest into slivers.


Broccoli florets should be small.


Squeezing the water out. Point the stems up.


Cooked and squeezed broccoli should shrink down.


Mix the sauce before you add the broccoli.


Make sure you have nice lemon zest pieces on top.