Japanese Cucumber & Radish Sunomono with Fava Beans and Wakame 日式涼拌小黃瓜沙拉佐蠶豆與海帶芽

This is a salad that I actually have been meaning to share with you for a long time! Thanks to my dear friend, who gave me these beautiful Japanese Koransha ceramic dishes last year, which gave me the idea to use them and write this recipe. It's one of my favourites and is something I make very often during the summertime. It's basically inspired by the traditional Japanese sunomono, which is often made with cucumbers or cucumber and wakame in vinegar and soy sauce. You can find it in most Japanese restaurants. It's actually quite easy to make at home, and it's the perfect appetizer or accompaniment for any Asian food. In this recipe, I added some radishes and fava beans, which contain a good amount of protein, vitamins, minerals, and anti-oxidants to make this traditional dish even more nutritious. The dressing is slightly tangy and sweet, and with the different textures of the vegetables, everything just ties together nicely!

Japanese Cucumber & Radish Sunomono with Fava Beans and Wakame (4 servings)

 

1     Japanese cucumber or 2 mini cucumbers
4-5  radishes
about 400 g fresh fava beans in the pods *You can also use about 1/2 C frozen edamame instead
3 T  wakame

sea salt


A: 2 T       rice vinegar
    1/2 t     soy sauce
    1/2 t     raw cane sugar or agave
    1 1/2 T sesame oil


1 T  toasted sesame seeds


*T = tbsp, t = tsp, C = cup

1. Follow instructions on How to Prepare Fava Beans, then season with a little bit of sea salt and set aside in a medium-sized bowl.

2. Soak the wakame in 1 cup water for 10 minutes.

3. Slice both the cucumber and the radishes into 1/8-inch thin rounds, then sprinkle some sea salt on each and set them aside for 5 minutes.

4. Gently squeeze out the water of the salted cucumbers and radishes through a strainer. Do the same thing with the wakame, and transfer all of them into the same bowl with the fava beans.

5. Pour ingredients A over all the vegetables and gently toss around to mix well.

6. Transfer them into small individual serving dishes and sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve!

                                                                                                                 - Yvonne

If you can't find fava beans, they can easily be replaced with frozen edamame!

在亞洲的朋友們要買到蠶豆或甜蘿蔔會比較不容易，因此可以將甜蘿蔔省略，而蠶豆也可以使用毛豆來代替 (請看以下食譜)。

這是我在夏季非常喜歡吃、也一定都會做的一道料理。感謝好朋友，去年在我回臺灣的時候送給我這套既精細又漂亮的日本香蘭社小碟子，讓我想到正好可以用它們來呈現這個食譜！食譜的靈感來自於一般日式餐廳都可以吃到的涼拌小黃瓜，其實它的做法相當簡單又不需要太多的時間。由於在國外夏季正好是甜蘿蔔與蠶豆的季節，而它們又有非常充分的營養與抗氧化劑，我就在這食譜裡加了一些，搭配清脆的小黃瓜與滑嫩的海帶芽還蠻好吃的。吃起來稍微帶點甜與酸，是適合炎熱夏季的清涼開胃菜！

日式涼拌小黃瓜沙拉佐蠶豆與海帶芽 (2 人份)

小黃瓜      1 根
甜蘿蔔      4-5 個 (可省略) *若不使用甜蘿蔔，請使用2根小黃瓜
新鮮帶豆莢的蠶豆 約 400 g *可使用毛豆代替
乾燥海帶芽 3 大匙

海鹽

A: 米醋     2 大匙
    醬油     1/2 小匙
    龍舌蘭糖漿或砂糖 1/2 小匙
    芝麻油  1 1/2 大匙

芝麻 1大匙

1. 將蠶豆煮熟 (*請參考如何處理新鮮蠶豆)，放入一個中型容器中，然後撒上一些海鹽，放置一旁。*若是使用毛豆，將洗淨的毛豆兩端切平，然後放入鹽水煮約4-5分，撈起撥開豆莢後將豆子放入一個中型容器中撒上少許海鹽放置一旁。
2. 將海帶芽浸泡10分鐘在1杯水裡。

3. 將小黃瓜與甜蘿蔔切成薄片。撒上一些海鹽後放置一旁5分鐘。

4. 小心的將小黃瓜、甜蘿蔔與海帶芽的水份擠出，然後放入有蠶豆的中型容器中。

5. 將A料倒入，與所有食材拌好，分別放入小碟子裡，再撒上芝麻即可。

                                                                                               - Yvonne