Bashing a cucumber might seem like a crazy thing to do to such a watery vegetable that is prized for crispness! Won’t it turn to mush? However, bashing doesn’t actually reduce the crispness of cucumber, instead it allows the flesh to absorb the flavour of a dressing and produces soft edged pieces that are much more enjoyable to eat than square edged cut pieces. Try it – wielding a rolling pin is always fun. The crisper your cucumber is to start with the better this salad will be, so those ridge cucumbers that you have to peel are perfect but a standard soft skin cucumber will work just fine.
Two peeled ridge cucumbers or one smooth skinned cucumber
2 hefty pinches sea salt
A drop of honey or pinch of sugar (optional)
A lime (or a tablespoon of Japanese rice vinegar)
A handful of coriander leaf
Hold one end of the cucumber and bash it firmly and evenly all the way along and around the entire circumference. Turn it round and do the same thing with the other half. The cucumber should break apart on several places, so use your hands to tear it open at the natural breaks and turn the pieces flesh side down, giving them a few more bashes until they break into chunks or long pieces. Be firm enough that some pieces jump off the board and you get cucumber seeds everywhere. This is not a job for the timid!
Use a sharp knife to cut the larger cucumber pieces diagonally across into lozenge shapes and put the pieces and seeds into a mixing bowl with the juice of a lime, salt and honey or sugar if using. Turn everything over with your hands. Taste for salt and sharpness, adding more salt or sugar/honey if you think it needs it. Roughly chop the coriander leaf and add to the salad, serve right away it doesn’t keep.
Umami cucumber
In place of salt, use a tablespoon of tamari, swap the lime juice for a tablespoon of Japanese rice vinegar and use a teaspoon of honey or sugar. Coriander leaf works fine here too, but I prefer a good pinch of mild chilli flakes and a teaspoon of toasted sesame seeds.
Kimchi cucumber
Is there anything that kimchi doesn’t improve? Whether you make your own, or buy it from a store, the sweet and sour, punchy, garlicky flavours of kimchi sit beautifully alongside clean, cool cucumber. Simply chop a handful sized amount of kimchi roughly and stir it through the bashed cucumber, or umami cucumber above. Toasted sesame seeds and even a drizzle of toasted sesame oil are totally delicious here too.