Crispy duck and glass noodle salad

45 MINUTES + CHILLING SERVES 4 | EASY

This colourful and zingy salad uses three important Japanese ingredients – harusame (glass noodles), umeboshi (pickled plums) and kaiso seaweed mix. Simple to make, it has great freshness, flavours and textures.

UMEBOSHI DRESSING

umeboshi 4, pitted and finely chopped or umeboshi paste 2 tbsp

(see ingredients notes on p41)

lemon 1, zested

lemon juice 3-4 tbsp

shallot ½, finely diced

caster sugar 2 tbsp

light soy sauce 2½ tbsp

toasted sesame oil 1 tbsp SALAD crispy aromatic duck ¼ portion

kaiso seaweed mix 4 tbsp

(see ingredients notes on p41)

mangetout 35g

harusame (glass noodles – see ingredients notes on p41) 50g

fennel ½, thinly sliced

cucumber ½ large, seeds removed and peeled into ribbons coriander roughly chopped to make 4 tbsp shallot ½, thinly sliced

red seedless grapes 16, halved spring onions finely sliced to make 4 tbsp TO GARNISH micro basil and edible flowers (optional) sesame seeds a generous sprinkle

• To make the dressing put all the ingredients in a bowl and whisk vigorously to combine. Check for seasoning – depending on the time of year, lemons are sweeter or more acidic, so adjust by adding a little more sugar, lemon juice or umeboshi until you get a zingy, flavoursome and refreshing dressing. Chill the dressing (it will keep for a few days in the fridge).

• Roast the crispy aromatic duck, skin-side up, following pack instructions. Cool slightly, then tear the meat into chunky shreds and set aside.

• In a bowl, rehydrate the kaiso seaweed mix in plenty of cold water for 10 minutes. Drain and squeeze out the excess water with your hands. Pat dry with a clean tea towel.

• In a pan of boiling water, cook the mangetout for 30 seconds, remove from the pan with a slotted spoon (reserving the water) and plunge into a bowl of iced water. Once cooled, pat dry with a clean tea towel and cut them in half.

• Use the same boiling water to cook the glass noodles following pack instructions. Rinse the noodles under running water until they are completely cold and drain well in a colander. Use a pair of scissors to cut the noodles into roughly 5cm lengths.

• Put the glass noodles and fennel slices in a large mixing bowl along with 2/3 of the dressing and mix well. Add most of the remaining salad ingredients and gently fold until they are roughly combined. Keep a tiny bit of each ingredient aside to garnish the dish, if you like.

• Transfer the salad to a serving platter, drizzle on the remaining dressing, scatter any reserved ingredients over the dish, and top with the micro basil and edible flowers (if using) and a generous sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds and sea salt flakes.

PER SERVING 664 KCALS | FAT 30.5G SATURATES 8.6G | CARBS 56.7G | SUGARS 16.6G FIBRE 8.3G | PROTEIN 36.6G | SALT 4.6G