Sunomono
Local name : 酢の物
Salted and squeezed cucumber tossed with wakame seaweed, dressed in sweetened rice vinegar and toasted sesame.
Photo : stu_spivack · CC BY-SA 2.0
- Prep
- 20 min
- Cook
- 0 min
- Total
- 20 min
- Serves
- 4
- Difficulty
- Easy
Method
- Slice the cucumbers into 2 mm rounds, on a mandoline if you have one.
- Toss them with the salt in a bowl and leave for 15 minutes. Squeeze the slices between your hands to drive out the water.
- Soak the wakame in cold water for 5 minutes. Drain, squeeze and cut the fronds into pieces.
- Warm the vinegar with the sugar until it dissolves, stir in the soy sauce and leave to cool.
- Toast the sesame in a dry pan for 2 minutes, until the seeds start to jump.
- Combine cucumber, wakame and sweetened vinegar. Rest for 10 minutes in the fridge, scatter with sesame and serve in small bowls.
Salting first pulls water out of the cucumber so it stays crisp and takes up the vinegar instead of diluting it. Use the same trick for any watery vegetable salad. Tamari gives a gluten-free version.
