Refreshing Little Intermezzo
02 September 2009
I’ve been travelling a lot lately. Right now I’ve just come home from a brief visit to Spain, where I surprised my dad for his birthday (my parents are staying there at the moment). Apart from taking him to a nice paella restaurant (one where you get the "real" stuff, not just the tourist version), I secretly baked him his favourite cake (it was quite a logistical challenge to get the highly perishable ground poppy seeds from Munich to Alicante without damage...).
Anyway, I’ve posted the cake recipe before, so now I need something else to write about. Luckily I’ve still got a few unpublished recipes in my drawer. Following up on the oven-baked miso aubergines I posted a few weeks ago (see suggestions to combine below), here’s another component of my most recent Japanese-style dinner. Accompanying a quite sumptious black octopus rice stir-fry (recipe to follow soon) and the equally tasty aubergines, this carrot and cucumber salad was something like a neutralizing element, a perfect refreshment for your palate in between the other two dishes. And just really soothing on a hot summer day!
No more talking – here is the recipe, elegant and simple.
Ginger-Dressed Carrot and Cucumber Salad
| serves 4 |
| 2 smallish or 1 large cucumber |
| 2 large carrots |
| 2-3 teaspoons of black sesame seeds |
| fresh ginger, about 2 teaspoons when grated |
| some Japanese rice vinegar |
| some soy sauce |
| some olive oil |
| some dark sesame oil |
Peel the carrots and cucumbers, and (separate from each other) slice finely à la julienne (long, thin strips). Very slightly salt the cucumbers and let rest for about 20-30 minutes, letting the water come out. Drain well and combine with the carrots and the black sesame seeds.
Grate a fresh ginger root until you've got about 2 teaspoons full. Use as a basis for the dressing also featurning Japanese rice vinegar, a dash of soy sauce, as well as roughly equal amounts of extra virgin olive oil and dark sesame oil. Adjust the ingredients to your liking and stir into the salad.