Cucumber, green bean and ginger noodle salad
This noodle salad requires a few short steps to prepare the ingredients separately to be combined with a flavourful dressing just before serving. Salting the cucumbers draws out their excess moisture so they don’t dilute the dressing. The green beans are ‘quick cooked’ in a bath of boiling water. If preferred, blanch them for 2-3 minutes in a pot of simmering water. Slicing the beans thinly takes some knife skills, if you a nifty bean slicer use that to make long thin strips. This dish can be served alongside grilled salmon or tofu, or shredded poached chicken (I shared a recipe a few months back) would be a great addition.
• 200g rice noodles – I used 5mm wide
• 3 small cucumbers or 1 large telegraph cucumber
• ½ tsp salt
• 200g green beans
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp rice vinegar
• 1 tsp mirin (optional)
• 1 tsp sugar
• ½ tsp chilli flakes
• 1-2 tsp sesame oil
• 3-4 cm fresh ginger root, peeled and cut into thin matchsticks • 1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
• 1 spring onion, thinly sliced
1. First, place the noodles into a bowl of hot tap water and leave to soften for 20-30 minutes.
2. Halve the cucumbers lengthwise and thinly slice each half on a diagonal. Place into a sieve set over a bowl. Add the salt and toss to combine. Leave to soften and drain for 20 minutes.
3. Use the tip of a sharp knife to slice the beans lengthwise to make long thin strips. Place into a bowl and cover with boiling water for 10 minutes, then drain.
4. Make the dressing by combining the soy sauce, vinegar, mirin, sugar and chilli flakes. Check the taste by adding extra soy sauce, vinegar or sugar to find a good balance. It will be quite strong at this stage but this will be soaked up by the noodles and vegetables. 5. Drain the softened noodles in a colander and place into a large bowl. Drizzle over the sesame oil, add the fresh ginger, and toss to combine.
6. Rinse the cucumbers in cold water, shake off excess water and add to the noodles along with the drained green beans. Drizzle over the dressing and toss to combine. Scatter with sesame seeds and sliced spring onion and serve.
7. Best served cold, chill for 30 minutes if possible before serving.