Cucumber Salad with Spicy and Sweet Poppy Seed Dressing
Photography Aaron McLean.
This Asian-inspired dressing transforms the humble cucumber into a refreshing and delicious salad.
Serves: 4-6
INGREDIENTS
1 large telegraph cucumber
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon caster sugar
2 spring onions, thinly sliced into long strips
1 long red chilli, seeded and thinly sliced
Dressing
½ cup rice wine vinegar
½ cup caster sugar
2 cloves garlic, crushed
½ teaspoon sea salt
1 tablespoon julienne fresh ginger
2 teaspoons poppy seeds or black sesame seeds
METHOD
Lightly peel the cucumber and halve lengthwise. Scrape out the seeds with a teaspoon and discard. Slice on the diagonal into 1cm thick pieces and place in a bowl. Toss with the salt and sugar and leave for 1 hour.
Dressing: Put the vinegar and sugar in a small saucepan and bring to the boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Simmer gently for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the remaining ingredients. Cool. The garlic will turn a pale green colour due to the vinegar.
To serve: Drain the cucumber and pat dry with kitchen towels. Place in a serving bowl and combine with the dressing, spring onions and chilli.
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In Dream Escape, we journey from Japan and Morocco to Italy, India and beyond, sharing recipes inspired by travel, heritage and comfort. We celebrate the champions of the Outstanding Food Producer Awards, explore the stories and recipes of chefs shaped by their cultural roots, and warm up with everything from West African soups and slow-braised lamb to porchetta, butter chicken and beef noodle soup. Alongside destination menus, Scandinavian sweets and cosy pub classics, Chrisanne Terblanche shares her favourite street-side dining spots in Bangkok, while Yvonne Lorkin explores red wine varietals. This issue, we invite you to slow down, turn the pages and escape through food.