The weather is starting to warm up here in Australia and that means, summer salads! I love this time of the year and I love making delicious salads with seasonal produce, either as a meal in their own right or as a side. Last month I made Jason one of his favourite dishes, Salt Crusted Salmon with Chilli Bang Bang Cucumber. We often have this cucumber salad as a side to our fish and curries mains. This quick and easy salad to rustle up is super fresh, super light, and it's packed full of flavour, with a smoky spicy punch. It's insane how good this salad is. Seeing as a lot of you on Instagram wanted the recipe, here it is. Enjoy!
Ingredients
- 1 large cucumber
- 2 tsp dried chilli flakes
- 2 tsp szechuan pepper
- 3 tbsp sesame seeds
- 3 tbsp black rice vinegar
- 3 tbsp tamari (soy sauce)
- 2 tsp sesame oil
Method
- Slice the outside of the cucumber with a knife to create grooves - don't slice too deeply. Just enough to scratch through.
- "Bang bang" the cucumber with your fist until it's almost flat. Roughly slice the cucumber and place in a bowl. Mix through a heaped pinch of sea salt. Combine the salt with the cucumber with your hands, and set aside for about 5 minutes. This is so the salt soaks through the cucumber juices.
- In a pestle and mortar, add chilli flakes and szechuan pepper, and roughly ground together.
- In a non-stick frying pan or saucepan, toast the chilli flakes and szechuan pepper with the sesame seeds on medium heat, until the sesame seeds are golden. You'll need to toss/stir regularly You'll also know it's ready when the aromas of the spice start to release. Set aside when ready.
-
Squeeze the cucumber with your hands to remove excess salty liquid, then transfer to a serving bowl. Drizzle the Tamara, vinegar and oil over the cucumber, mix to combine. Sprinkle the toasted spices/sesame seeds on top.
- Enjoy!
