Here's a great idea for a simple, refreshing and clean side salad that goes great with much heavier dishes that may contain chicken, beef or pork. This salad is of course, Japanese-inspired and contains some of the most refreshing vegetables available, including daikon radish, cucumber and carrot.
So here's what you'll need (and it is not much) to make a side salad for maybe 10:
1 medium daikon radish
1/2 cucumber
1 small carrot
Julienne all three vegetable into thin matchstick-size slivers and set aside.
Now let's work on the salad dressing. You'll need:
2 tablespoons ponzu (Japanese citrus soy sauce)
2 tablespoons mirin (sweet rice wine)
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
a pinch of salt
a pinch of sugar (if needed)
Mix all the ingredients above in a mixing bowl and set aside. Add a little sugar if it tastes too tart.
Now, toast some sesame seeds (black and white) together with some
nori (roasted seaweed) paper, cut into strips. The
nori and sesame seeds can be used as garnish. As the
nori adds a little smokiness to the salad, you can either use it or leave it out.
Enjoy!
