Tokyo Weekender August 2017

Sunomono Salad with
Cucumber and Wakame
Sunomono (literally “vinegary dish”) is a very popular side
dish in Japan. Its clean and refreshing flavor makes it a
perfect side dish with summer grills. It’s oil free so you
don’t need to worry about calories, and you get all the
nutritional goodness from the wakame seaweed, which is
packed with vitamins and minerals from the sea.
Sunomono
Salad
Ingredients (serves 4):
• 300g cucumber
• 10g dried wakame seaweed
• 2 tbsp salt
• 4 tbsp rice vinegar
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 2 tbsp parched white sesame
Method
1. Soak the dried wakame seaweed in a bowl of cold water
until it softens, for about 10 minutes. Drain and squeeze
out excess water.
2. Cut the cucumbers in half lengthwise and slice thinly.
Place the cucumber slices in a bowl, sprinkle with salt
and massage gently. Set aside for a few minutes. Wash
out the salt and squeeze out excess water.
3. Place the vinegar and the sugar in a bowl. Mix well
until the sugar is dissolved. Add the wakame, cucumber
and sesame. Mix well and serve.
Recipe courtesy of food writer Yukari Elliott
Ikayaki
Ikayaki
Ikayaki – grilled squid in
sweet sauce – is another summer
street dish that you can
easily recreate at home. In the
original version, the squid is
grilled whole, with only diagonal
cuts in the flesh, but it’s
easier to eat if cut into rings.
Ingredients (serves 4):
• 500g of fresh or frozen squid
• 1 tbsp sake or white wine
• 2 tbsp of vegetable oil for
frying
Marinade:
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp sake
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tbsp mirin
• ½ tsp grated ginger
• ½ tsp grated garlic
For serving:
• Mayonnaise
• Shichimi (seven spices)
Method
1. If you are using a whole
squid, clean it, discarding
entrails, head and the purplish
outside membrane.
Keep the squid body and
tentacles, and rinse under
running water. Cut the body
into even, approx. 1cm
rings and the tentacles into
bite-size pieces. If you are
using frozen squid tubes or
rings, defrost them first.
2. Mix all the marinade ingredients
and marinate the
squid for approx. 10 min.
Rub off the marinade and
save for later.
3. Heat oil in a pan at medium
heat. Add the squid
and stir-fry until golden
(approx. 2 minutes), stirring
often.
4. Lower the heat, add sake,
cover the pan and let the
squid steam on low heat for
a further 2 minutes.
5. Once the squid is cooked
through, add the marinade
and cook, stirring constantly,
until it starts to thicken
(approx. 2 minutes).
6. Serve immediately.
A hint:
Be careful not to over-cook
the squid or it will become
rubbery.
Recipe courtesy of Kohei Yagi