Sesame and peanut cucumber salad
Units
Temperature
Servings
Ingredients
Cucumber
- 700 g cucumbers, smashed and torn, not sliced; see the method rounded
- 8 g fine salt, for drawing the water out, and most of it drains away rounded
Dressing
- 45 g smooth peanut butter, the unsweetened kind with nothing in it but peanuts rounded
- 45 ml rice vinegar rounded
- 30 ml soy sauce rounded
- 15 ml toasted sesame oil, the dark kind, and this much is enough rounded
- 20 g sriracha, or any garlic chilli sauce, to taste rounded
- 10 g honey or maple syrup, to balance the vinegar, not to sweeten it rounded
- 2 garlic cloves, grated to a paste rounded
- 15 g fresh ginger, grated rounded
To finish
- 200 g cottage cheese, folded through at the end; this is the protein rounded
- 60 g roasted cashews, roughly chopped, added at the table so they stay crisp rounded
- 3 spring onions, sliced thin rounded
- 10 g toasted sesame seeds rounded
- to taste coriander rounded
Method
Method
- Smash the cucumbers, do not slice them. Lay them on a board, press down hard with the flat of a wide knife until they crack lengthways, then tear them into rough 3 cm chunks. Ragged torn surfaces hold dressing; a smooth cut slice sheds it. This is the whole reason the dish works.
- Salt and drain, and give it 20 minutes. Toss the chunks with the salt in a colander over a bowl. A surprising amount of water comes out. Skipping this is why most cucumber salads end up sitting in a puddle with a dressing that has been diluted to nothing.
- Whisk the dressing while it drains. Peanut butter and rice vinegar first, until smooth, then the soy, sesame oil, sriracha, honey, garlic and ginger. If it seizes, a spoon of water loosens it.
- Pat the cucumber dry with a towel and tip it into a bowl. Do not rinse it: the salt that is left is the seasoning.
- Dress and fold. Toss the cucumber through the dressing, then fold the cottage cheese in last and gently, so it stays in visible curds rather than dissolving into a beige sauce.
- Finish at the table with the cashews, spring onions, sesame and coriander. The cashews go soft within 20 minutes, so add them as it goes down.
Notes
- The cottage cheese is not a compromise. It brings about 25 g of protein to the bowl, and against a salty, sour, chilli-hot dressing it reads as creaminess rather than as cottage cheese. Full-fat has better texture than low-fat, which is watery.
- Peanut butter with nothing in it. The supermarket kind with palm oil and sugar makes the dressing cloying and it will not emulsify properly. Check the label says peanuts, and maybe salt.
- Make the dressing ahead, not the salad. The dressing keeps a week in a jar. Dressed cucumber is good for a couple of hours and then goes limp.
- Bulk it out with cold soba, shredded chicken or edamame and it becomes a full lunch rather than a side.
- Heat is personal. Twenty grams of sriracha is medium. Christoph goes further.
Higher protein, three ways
- Cottage cheese, as written, is the easiest and adds about 25 g.
- Silken tofu blended into the dressing instead of some of the peanut butter makes it dairy-free and thickens it beautifully.
- Greek yogurt at 150 g in place of the cottage cheese gives a smoother, tangier dressing and slightly less protein.
Ingredient substitutions
- Cashews can be peanuts, which doubles down, or toasted sunflower seeds for a nut-free version alongside sunflower seed butter.
- Rice vinegar is mild and slightly sweet. White wine vinegar works with a little more honey; malt vinegar does not.
- Soy sauce can be tamari for a gluten-free version.