British cucumber salad with yellow peaches, ginger and sesame dressing

The simplicity of this light and fresh salad shows off the natural delicious flavours of the cucumber and peach which are elevated by a tangy and well balanced dressing.

Recipe created by Chef Eric Bédiat from Le Cordon Bleu London.

Serves: 4
Preparation time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

Salad

1 British Cucumber
fine salt
2 yellow peaches

Dressing

10g sesame seeds
20g ginger
10g caster sugar
20ml rice wine vinegar

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micro parsley, or micro cucumber leaves

Method

1. Wash the cucumber and halve it lengthways. Using a Parisienne scoop, remove the seeds then slice each half in half again to get 4 pieces. Using a mandolin, slice the cucumber lengthways to form ribbons about 2 mm thick. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt to season and extract some of the excess water.

2. Wash, halve and quarter the peaches. Slice into thin regular wedges.

3. In a dry pan heat the sesame seeds over a low heat until evenly golden and crispy. Finely grate the ginger into a small bowl, add the sugar and rice vinegar and mix to dissolve. Add the sesame seeds.

4. Squeeze out any excess water from the cucumber slices and combine with the dressing.

5. On a plate, neatly arrange the peach slices overlapping each other into a ring shape. Pile the cucumber in the centre. Spoon some dressing around and finish with micro parsley or micro cucumber leaves on top. Serve cold.