165 recipes. Page 2 of 7
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Salty salami and olives, mild mozzarella balls, and crunchy bell pepper and cucumber trade places from bite to bite. With only red wine vinegar and olive oil in the dressing, the cured meat and olives carry most of the seasoning.
Made with a knife and no heat at all, this summer side from the Murayama and Okitama areas of Yamagata went onto rice by the spoonful during the hot farming season. The eggplant and cucumber are chopped small, and the myoga, ginger, shiso, long onion, and green chili finer still. Bonito flakes and dashi soy sauce go on just before it is served.
A mixed seaweed pack usually holds several kinds, such as sea mustard stems, hijiki, and ogonori, and each one chews a little differently. The seaweed spends only 20 seconds in boiling water to keep that springy bite. A vinegared gochujang dressing and thin slices of cucumber add tang and crunch.
Rice wraps the outside and the nori sits hidden within, an inside-out construction that keeps the dark seaweed out of sight. The roll is credited to Japanese chefs in North America in the 1960s or 1970s, but who made it first, and whether in Los Angeles or Vancouver, is still disputed. The inside-out wrap is said to have started because American diners peeled the seaweed off.
Fishing villages in Shizuoka make this summer soup from raw bonito pounded with miso and umeboshi, then loosened with ice water. Since nothing is cooked, the bonito must be labeled for raw eating. It is pounded coarsely, leaving small pieces rather than a paste, and eaten as soon as it is mixed.
The cucumbers are stored whole, split lengthwise into quarters with the red chive filling poking out, and only cut into bite-size pieces at the table. Bite into one and the cucumber juice and the seasoning come out together.
Gochujang heat, the sweetness of maesil plum syrup, and a sharp hit of vinegar land together in each mouthful of these cold somyeon noodles. A thorough cold-water rinse strips off surface starch, so the thin wheat noodles turn bouncy and the sauce coats them evenly instead of clumping. Torn lettuce and cucumber strips bring crunch, and the little moisture they release loosens the thick sauce just enough.
Modeled on Korea's summer bowl of noodles in cold soybean broth, this version skips soaking and grinding soybeans: unsweetened soy milk is blended with toasted sesame and peanut butter into a thick, nutty broth. The only heat used goes into boiling the linguine, which is then rinsed in ice water so it stays firm and chewy in the cold broth. Cucumber and cherry tomatoes go on top.
Chewy barley grains carry crisp bell pepper and cucumber, sharp red onion, and plenty of parsley in a simple lemon and olive oil dressing. The barley should stay slightly firm at the center; cooked soft, it turns porridge-like once dressed. Letting the barley cool completely does more for the result than any seasoning tweak: warm grains pull water out of the vegetables and thin the dressing.
Cucumber, round eggplant, myoga, green chili, and miso-pickled daikon are minced almost as fine as rice grains in this northern Nagano summer side. Over warm rice it works like a fresh vegetable furikake, and it also goes with somen or chilled tofu. One story says the name comes from tossing in a bit of everything and chopping it all very fine. Squeezing the fresh vegetables hard keeps the mix crisp and stops their water from diluting the salty pickle.
This two-serving chirashi-zushi arranges salmon and tuna sashimi, thin egg crepe, cucumber, blanched lotus root, and salmon roe over rice seasoned with sushi vinegar. Fold the seasoning into the warm rice without crushing the grains, spread it out, and let the steam escape before adding raw fish. Cook the egg in a thin sheet and cut it into 3 mm strips. Blanch the sliced lotus root for 1 minute and drain it well so excess water does not collect on the rice. Keep the sashimi refrigerated until assembly, blot only surface moisture with a clean paper towel, and serve the finished bowls immediately.
Stale bread soaked in water goes into the blender with the tomatoes, cucumber and pepper, and it makes the soup heavier and smoother than vegetable juice. No heat is involved at all, only two hours or more in the fridge. This Andalusian cold soup is only as good as its tomatoes, which need to be fully ripe.
Whole cucumbers sit in a hot salt brine and then age, refrigerated, for at least five days, turning into strongly salted pickles meant to be sliced thin and used a little at a time. Only 2 to 3 mm is trimmed from each end, since deeper cuts let brine rush in and soften the flesh. The slices go into side dishes or chilled Korean soups.
The gochujang sauce grips tough, springy naengmyeon noodles rather than sliding off, and every strand carries the spicy-sour coating. Mixing the sauce 10 minutes ahead gives the sugar time to dissolve and the flavors time to even out. The noodles cook in well under a minute over high heat, and lifting them out the moment the strands separate keeps them from going soft. Rubbing them under cold water to strip the starch, then squeezing them hard, stops leftover water from thinning the sauce. Cucumber and Korean pear, crisped in ice water, cool the heat with crunch and light fruitiness, and half a boiled egg softens the chili's edge.
Korean diners of the 1970s and 80s served this sweet mayo macaroni next to pork cutlet and hamburg steak. Sugar and sweet corn take the place of mustard or herbs, and the macaroni is cooked softer than al dente so the mayonnaise clings in one creamy mass.
Bomdong, a flat, open-leaf cabbage harvested from winter into early spring, has sweet, crunchy leaves that pair surprisingly well with strawberries. The link is a doenjang dressing: Korean soybean paste loosened with olive oil, lemon juice, and honey, salty and nutty without being heavy. Because doenjang varies a lot in saltiness from brand to brand, the dressing goes on in portions, tasted as you go. The leaves are torn by hand rather than cut to keep their natural shape, then dried well, since leftover water thins the dressing. Strawberries sit on top of the greens instead of in the dressing, which would make them weep juice, and walnuts and sesame add a toasty note that bridges the fruit and the paste.
Stir-fried deodeok root sits beside raw cucumber, carrot, and lettuce, so each bite mixes a cooked, gochujang-coated root with cool, crisp vegetables. Most of the sauce goes into the pan with the deodeok; the rest is added when the bowl is mixed.
Pine nuts and sesame are ground into an ivory broth that is poured over shredded chicken breast and topped with fine strips of cucumber. Milk and the chicken poaching liquid set the thickness, and it is served cold or just warm. The dish comes down from banquets at the Joseon court.
Red and yellow bell peppers layered with cucumber make a bright jar, and their thick flesh soaks up the soy brine slowly without losing its crunch. Natural sweetness from the peppers balances the salty soy and the vinegar, while whole peppercorns leave a slight spice at the finish. It can be eaten the next day, but two to three days lets the brine reach the center. A jar of peppers alone, without the water-releasing cucumber, keeps two weeks or more chilled. Leftover brine works as a salad dressing.
Tsuyu sharpened with vinegar dresses this cold soba salad and finishes lighter than an oil-based dressing would. Purple shreds of red cabbage, cucumber and lettuce mix in among the brown buckwheat noodles, and nori flakes are scattered on top. Rubbing the noodles under cold water until the slick surface is gone keeps the strands separate and lets the dressing cling. A boiled egg or some chicken breast turns it into a full meal.
Leftover bossam, Korean boiled pork, gets a second life tossed with cabbage, perilla leaves, cucumber, and apple. Instead of Korean hot mustard, the dressing uses whole-grain mustard and vinegar, which keeps the heat gentle and lets the seeds give a little pop. Apple sweetness and the minty, herbal note of perilla lighten the fatty pork, and the cabbage stays crisp when the salad goes to the table right away.
A half sheet of nori is joined to a full one to make the wrapper wider, and inside goes a generous line of sashimi-grade tuna, tsuyu-seasoned rolled omelet, cucumber, pickled radish and simmered burdock. Tuna, radish and omelet are cut into bars of about the same thickness, with fine strips of cucumber filling the gaps, and that is what gives each slice a full, even center.
Buckwheat jelly is plain on its own, and the cold soy and vinegar broth is mixed a little too salty and sour to make up for it once the jelly goes in. The broth is chilled until a few ice crystals remain, and crumbled laver and sesame oil go on just before serving.
Steamed glutinous rice mixed with cucumber, red cabbage and red shiso ferments into something thick and tangy, stained red from grain to grain. Northwestern Tsugaru in Aomori has long put it up as a winter preserve. The shiso is salted and kneaded separately and its dark juice squeezed out, which removes its harsh astringency before it meets the rice. The grains should stay mostly whole while the shiso and vegetables spread evenly through them. The recipe fills an 18 L crock, so a pressing weight and a cool spot are needed before starting. Sourness and thickness keep shifting as it ferments, and it is eaten with rice once it reaches the stage you like.