Japanese
Sunomono (Cucumber and Wakame Salad)
Paper-thin cucumber and silky wakame in a light sweet rice vinegar dressing. A crisp, refreshing Japanese side ready in 15 minutes.
Ingredients
Pantry bits
- 2 Lebanese cucumbers
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp dried wakame (about 5g)
- 3 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp toasted sesame seeds
Instructions
- Soak the wakame in a bowl of cold water for 5 minutes until soft. Drain, squeeze gently and cut any large pieces into bite-sized strips.
- Slice the cucumbers into very thin rounds, as thin as you can manage (a mandoline helps). Toss with the salt and leave for 5 minutes.
- Stir the rice vinegar, sugar and soy sauce together until the sugar dissolves.
- Squeeze the cucumber firmly to remove the liquid, then mix with the wakame.
- Spoon into small shallow bowls, pour over a little of the dressing and finish with sesame seeds. Serve chilled.
About this dish
Sunomono simply means vinegared things, and this cucumber and wakame version is the one you'll see most often in Japanese restaurants, served in a little bowl before the main event.
Salting the cucumber first draws out water so it stays crunchy and soaks up the dressing instead of watering it down. Dried wakame comes back to life in five minutes.
It's sharp, clean and barely sweet: exactly what you want next to teriyaki, tempura or anything rich and fried.
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