← Nouns Cooking · Japanese

Ingredients

• 300 g Japanese or Persian cucumbers (about 3), very thinly sliced
• ½ tsp salt, for the cucumber
• 1 tbsp dried wakame seaweed
• 4 tbsp unseasoned rice vinegar
• 1½ tbsp Sugar
• ¼ tsp Salt
• ½ tsp Soy sauce
• 1 tsp toasted sesame seeds

Method

1. Soak the wakame in a bowl of water for 5–10 min, until soft and silky. Drain and squeeze out the water.
2. Toss the cucumber slices with the salt and leave for 5 min, until limp and wet.
3. Stir the vinegar, sugar, salt and soy sauce together until the sugar dissolves.
4. Squeeze the cucumber firmly by the handful to remove as much liquid as possible. Mix it with the wakame and the dressing, scatter over the sesame seeds and serve chilled.

Tips

• Use a mandoline (carefully, with the guard) for even, see-through slices.
• For gluten-free, swap the soy sauce for tamari. Crab sticks or cooked prawns make it a light starter.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Just One Cookbook Japanese Cooking 101