Sesame Cucumber Whack Salad

Name: Sesame Cucumber Whack Salad
Prep time: 25 min
Total time: 25 min
Cuisine: Asian
Ingredients: 2 telegraph (long) cucumbers; ¼ cup (60 ml) soy sauce; 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar; 2 tablespoons mirin; 1 tablespoon sesame oil; 1 tablespoon finely grated fresh ginger; 1 garlic clove, finely grated; 1 teaspoon caster (superfine) sugar; 3 spring onions (scallions), thinly sliced; 1 long red chilli, thinly sliced; ½ bunch of coriander (cilantro), leaves picked; ½ bunch of mint, leaves picked; toasted white sesame seeds, to serve; crispy fried shallots, to serve

3 steps

Prep:25min

Often, when cucumber salad recipes get you to scrape out the seeds, they don’t really tell you what to do with them. ‘Pour them down the sink’ is the usual assumption. But why must the seeds suffer such a fate, when they’re such a delightfully textural and sweet addition to a dressing? The answer is: they shouldn’t. Pop them in the dressing, or spoon them into your mouth. Whatever you choose to do, leave the sink for the dishes.

Updated at: Thu, 17 Aug 2023 00:05:48 GMT

Nutrition balance score

Unbalanced

Glycemic Index

Low

Glycemic Load

Low

Nutrition per serving

Calories87.2 kcal (4%)

Total Fat3.7 g (5%)

Carbs12.1 g (5%)

Sugars5.7 g (6%)

Protein3.1 g (6%)

Sodium962.1 mg (48%)

Fiber1.7 g (6%)

% Daily Values based on a 2,000 calorie diet

Ingredients

4 servings

2cucumbers

telegraph, long

¼ cupsoy sauce

2 tablespoonsapple cider vinegar

2 tablespoonsmirin

1 tablespoonsesame oil

1 tablespoonfresh ginger

finely grated

1garlic clove

finely grated

1 teaspooncaster sugar

3spring onions

scallions, thinly sliced

1long red chilli

thinly sliced

0.5 bunchcoriander

cilantro, leaves picked

0.5 bunchmint

leaves picked

toasted white sesame seeds

to serve

shallots

Crispy, fried, to serve

Instructions

Step 1

Halve the cucumbers lengthways, then use a spoon to remove the seeds. Add the seeds to a mortar and use a pestle to break them up slightly. Add the soy sauce, vinegar, mirin, sesame oil, ginger, garlic and sugar to the mortar and mix together with a tablespoon or spatula, then transfer the dressing to a small bowl.

Step 2

Roughly chop the cucumber into 3 cm pieces. In batches, gently pound the cucumber and spring onion together using the same mortar and pestle, until the cucumber skins are slightly cracked.

Step 3

Transfer to a large serving platter and toss with the chilli and herbs. Spoon the dressing over, then scatter with toasted sesame seeds and crispy shallots to serve.