"Spicy miso with cucumber sticks is a traditional snack you'd find in an izakaya in Japan or would prepare at home," says chef Kazuki Tsuya of Melbourne restaurant Kazuki's.
Kazuki's cucumber, two ways (with almond miso, and horeseradish cream)
An elegant starter.
- 10 mins preparation
- 10 mins cooking (plus cooling)
- Serves 4
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Ingredients
- 4 Lebanese cucumbers, halved lengthways and widthways, bases trimmed
- Calendula and pansy petals and small nasturtium leaves, to serve
Smoked almond and sweet miso
- 80 gm shiro (white) miso paste (see note)
- 65 ml cooking sake
- 40 ml mirin
- 10 gm finely grated ginger
- 80 gm smoked almonds, coarsely chopped
Horseradish cream and karasumi
- 100 ml pouring cream
- 50 gm Greek-style yoghurt
- 1 tsp honey
- 15 gm finely grated fresh horseradish
- 150 gm karasumi or bottarga (see note)
Method
- 1For smoked almond and sweet miso, combine shiro, sake, mirin and ginger with 50ml water in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to the boil and whisk gently to combine. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until thickened (3-5 minutes) to the consistency of honey. Transfer to a bowl and refrigerate until chilled. Stir in almonds. Place half the cucumber pieces, cut-side up, on a plate. Top with a little smoked almond and sweet miso sauce and scatter with calendula petals.
- 2For horseradish cream, whisk cream in a bowl to soft peaks. Fold in yoghurt, honey and horseradish and season to taste. Place remaining cucumber pieces, cut-side up on a plate and spoon over horseradish cream. Finely grate karasumi over the top and scatter with pansy petals and nasturtium leaves.
Notes
Shiro miso is available from Asian grocers. Karasumi is a salted sun-dried mullet roe, known as avgotaraho in Greece and bottarga in Sardinia. Bottarga is available from delicatessens; it will keep refrigerated for 1 month.