Can't get any easier
This salad makes a sweet countermelody to the Japanese beef curry from an earlier post. It must be one of the simplest salads in the world since it only requires cutting up some cucumbers and red onion before adding a mix of Japanese rice vinegar, sugar and sesame oil.
And while we're dealing with cucumbers, I'd like to share this thing I do with it. I don't have a legitimate explanation for it but my mother and her mother did this all the time so I'm just keeping the tradition. Cut an inch off the head of the cucumber and rub both parts against each other. You will see some white substance (pulp?) emerging as a result. Apparently doing this gets rid of the bitter taste in cucumbers and yes, it is true.
Anyway let's get back to the salad: it is pretty intuitive but here's a rough guide if you're trying it for the first time.
Ingredients:
3 cucumbers, quartered length-wise, deseeded, cut in 1/2-inch chunks
1 red onion, quartered and thinly sliced
3 tablespoons Japanese rice vinegar
2 tablespoons white fine sugar
1 tablespoon sesame oil
(Optional) 1 tablespoon lightly toasted sesame and/or torn-up sheet of Nori seaweed
1. Toss the cucumbers, red onion, rice vinegar, sugar and sesame oil in a glass bowl.
2. Sprinkle with toasted sesame and the Nori seaweed to add more texture to the salad.
When it comes to balance of taste, it's all about individual preferences. The above should not make you cringe, though.
And while we're dealing with cucumbers, I'd like to share this thing I do with it. I don't have a legitimate explanation for it but my mother and her mother did this all the time so I'm just keeping the tradition. Cut an inch off the head of the cucumber and rub both parts against each other. You will see some white substance (pulp?) emerging as a result. Apparently doing this gets rid of the bitter taste in cucumbers and yes, it is true.
Anyway let's get back to the salad: it is pretty intuitive but here's a rough guide if you're trying it for the first time.
Ingredients:
3 cucumbers, quartered length-wise, deseeded, cut in 1/2-inch chunks
1 red onion, quartered and thinly sliced
3 tablespoons Japanese rice vinegar
2 tablespoons white fine sugar
1 tablespoon sesame oil
(Optional) 1 tablespoon lightly toasted sesame and/or torn-up sheet of Nori seaweed
1. Toss the cucumbers, red onion, rice vinegar, sugar and sesame oil in a glass bowl.
2. Sprinkle with toasted sesame and the Nori seaweed to add more texture to the salad.
When it comes to balance of taste, it's all about individual preferences. The above should not make you cringe, though.
