Recently I had a couple of encounters, not the alien kind but the kind of encounters that you don’t expect after 30 plus years! We were meeting a friend up on Bloor at our local pub for dinner one night and this gentleman stops me on the street and calls me by name. He was so happy to see me but I had no idea who he was; it turns out that he was in my grade school way back before dinosaurs and he recognized me! I didn’t recognize him because he was a very skinny and short kid with a crazy ‘fro and he became quite a tall and portly adult with close cropped hair.
Later that same week we ventured to our local Home Show to walk around and day-dream about our next renovation when this woman approaches and asks if I had gone to U of T (University of Toronto) and as soon as I looked at her I recognized her from way back in the mid 80’s! Two totally unexpected encounters in one week. Has this ever happened to you? I’d love to hear about it.
I was trying to find a way to use the wasabi pearls without being too predictable and this salad was the perfect solution! The lightly dressed salad plays up the subtle sweet and sour Asian flavours in the cucumber pickle combined with the luxuriously creamy soft poached egg yolk. The cucumber pickle was so tasty, I would have it on its own too!
I’m still at odds about the use of the other two pearls, so if you have any ideas, I’d love to hear about them.
A refreshing Asian flavoured salad
Cucumber Ribbon Pickle and Poached Egg Salad with Wasabi Pearls
Serves 2 as a light meal or 4 as a starter
Ingredients for the salad:
- 4 handfuls of mixed greens (I used spinach and arugula)
- 20 grape tomatoes cut in half
- 1 tbsp cilantro, roughly chopped
- 1 tbsp green onion, roughly chopped
- 1 heaped tbsp wasabi pearls (click here for recipe)
- 1 cup English cucumbers, sliced into very thin ribbons (see note)
- 1 soft boiled egg per serving
Ingredients for the dressing:
- 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
- 1/2 tsp soy sauce
Directions for the cucumber pickle:
- Combine all of the ingredients for the dressing and heat either in the microwave or stove top until just about boiling. Pour over the cucumber ribbons in a non-reactive container and allow to sit for 15 to 30 minutes.
Directions for the salad:
- Put equal amounts of the mixed greens into each of two or four bowls, top with equal amounts of the cucumber pickle (reserve the dressing) and tomatoes.
- Add one poached egg per bowl and garnish with the chopped green onion and cilantro.
- Distribute even amounts of the wasabi pearls into each bowl and drizzle with a tablespoon or two of the dressing into each bowl.
- Serve immediately.
The pale green wasabi pearls are a burst of flavour
Breaking into the yolk to make a delicious, creamy dressing
No, they are not some weird green fish eggs, they are wasabi pearls!
I just needed a bit of colour on a dreary winter’s day
Tips:
- Use your vegetable peeler to make paper thin cucumber ribbons.
- Don’t peel the cucumber to give it some substance.
Kitcheninspirations 