Seaweed Salad with Cucumber and Chicken or Shrimp

Name: Seaweed Salad with Cucumber and Chicken or Shrimp
Yield: makes 8 servings
Ingredients: 2 ounces wakame or assorted seaweeds; 2 medium to large cucumbers, preferably thin skinned, like English or Japanese; 1 pound shredded cooked chicken or roughly chopped cooked shrimp, optional; 1/2 cup minced shallot, scallion, or red onion; 3 tablespoons soy sauce; 2 tablespoons rice or other light vinegar; 2 tablespoons mirin; 2 tablespoons dark sesame oil; 1/2 teaspoon cayenne, or to taste; Salt to taste; 2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds (page 596), optional

December 14, 2011

This is simply a kind of sea-based mesclun with a distinctively sesame-flavored dressing. Wakame, a dark green, leafy seaweed, is sold dried almost everywhere and is the most common seaweed used in salad. Other seaweeds, ranging in color from light green to bright red to black and in texture from leafy to ferny, are all fine (see page 483). At most Japanese markets and some health food stores, you can find a prepackaged assortment of seaweed salad greens; these are a little more expensive than buying individual seaweeds but will give you a good variety without a big investment.You don’t need much: an ounce of dried seaweed, or even less, is enough to make a salad for four.

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