Cucumber Salad with Cheats Pickle Dressing.

A cheats-fast stove top pickle forms the dressing of this refreshing salad. Toss together and chill, then add fresh herbs before serving. 

Instead of the full technical recipe for Vietnamese staple nước chấm dipping sauce,  I humbly present you with my test kitchen cheat. An easy stand-in for a quick pickle liquor. And one that I will shamelessly repeat.

3/4 cup sushi seasoning, I used the brand Obento***

1/2 teaspoon fish sauce (leave out for vegetarians)

1/2 red onion, sliced

1-2 chillis, finely sliced.

1 bunch coriander

black sesame seeds

1- 2 cucumbers, partially peeled and sliced

Place the sushi seasoning in a saucepan and bring to a boil, add the red onion and chilli.

Simmer for 5 minutes. Turn off and allow to cool to room temp.

Peel long stripes off the cucumber and slice.  Add to a bowl.  Toss through the cooled dressing and black sesame seeds. 

Chill for at least an hour before serving with fresh coriander.

Notes:  

I went to make the famous Vietnamese staple nước chấm dipping sauce to dress this salad and found I was out of rice wine vinegar.  A great sauce to be able to whip up in summer as it is great with anything fresh, crisp or seafoodie. 

There are lots of versions of this sauce, mine is nowhere near as nuanced and wonderful as it can be. Simply a starting point.  Dr Google will find you a myriad of recipes to explore and perfect this further. I have added a simple version below if you want to start with that instead of my Obento cheat.

Nước Chấm Dressing recipe:

3/4 cup rice wine vinegar

1 disc of palm sugar (not to be confused with palm oil)

1/4 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

1/2 fresh lemon or lime, juiced.

Add the rice wine vinegar to the pan, add the sugar.  Simmer until the sugar is dissolved, add the sesame oil and simmer for a few more minutes.  Turn off the heat.  Stir through the fresh citrus juice before cooling.