Salt Massaged Cucumbers With Miso And Sesame Recipes

Steps:

• Wash cucumbers but do not peel. Cut off and discard ends, and slice cucumbers into 1/8-inch rounds. Put in a medium-size bowl, sprinkle with salt and mix well. Leave for 10 minutes.
• In a dry skillet over medium-high heat, toast sesame seeds until fragrant and just beginning to pop, 1 minute or less. Transfer to a suribachi (Japanese grinding bowl) or mortar and grind to a coarse paste. Add miso, vinegar and ginger and stir well.
• Squeeze cucumbers a handful at a time to express their liquid. Drain in a colander. Stack shiso leaves and roll into a cigar shape. Slice thinly with a sharp knife. Dress cucumbers with miso-sesame mixture. Sprinkle with shiso slivers, toss gently and serve.

Steps:

• Combine garlic, shallot, shoyu, vinegars, miso and sugar in a blender and blend on high speed until homogenous. (Alternatively, mash garlic and shallots in the bowl of a large granite or marble mortar and pestle into a fine paste using the pestle, then stir in the shoyu, vinegars, miso and sugar.)
• With the blender running on medium speed (the liquid should form a vortex but not jump up and splatter on the walls of the blender), slowly drizzle in the grapeseed oil. (If using a mortar and pestle, slowly drizzle in the oil as you stir vigorously with the pestle.)
• Transfer to a lidded jar. Stir in the sesame oil and sesame seeds with a spoon. Dressing can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks. Shake well before using.