Asian Ginger and Cucumber Soup with Seared Salmon

Ingredients

Contains: soy, fish, sesame (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

• 4 small ridge cucumberscucumbers, 5cm/2in fresh root ginger
• 70ml/2½fl oz rice vinegar
• 1 lime
• 2 tsp white miso
• 150ml/5fl oz cold vegetable stock
• 6 spring onions
• ¼ bag of baby spinach
• 2 tbsp extra virgin rapeseed oil
• 115g/4oz salmon
• pinch salt
• 1 tbsp sherry vinegar
• 1 small green chilli
• 1 tsp sesame seeds

Directions

Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.

1. Trim the spring onions, keeping the greens of two for garnish, and slice the rest. Finely slice the green chilli, discarding seeds if you want less heat. Halve the lime.

2. Peel the cucumbers. Roughly chop three of them and thinly slice the remaining one for garnish. Peel and roughly chop the ginger.

3. Heat 1 tablespoon of the rapeseed oil in a saucepan over low heat. Add the sliced spring onion whites, ginger and half the chilli, and cook gently for 3 minutes until soft.

4. Add the chopped cucumber, vegetable stock, rice vinegar and baby spinach. Simmer for 5 minutes until the cucumber is tender and the spinach has wilted.

5. Take the pan off the heat and let it cool for 10 minutes. Whisk the miso with a splash of the warm liquid until smooth, stir it in, then blend until very smooth. Season with salt and lime juice to taste, then chill for at least 1 hour.

6. Toast the sesame seeds in a dry pan over medium heat for 2 minutes, shaking often, until golden. Toss the sliced cucumber with the sherry vinegar, the remaining chilli and a squeeze of lime.

7. Pat the salmon dry and season it with the pinch of salt. Heat the remaining rapeseed oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat until shimmering.

8. Sear the salmon skin side down for 3 to 4 minutes, flip, and cook until the thickest part reaches 145°F (63°C) or the flesh is opaque and flakes, about 2 more minutes. Rest for 3 minutes, then flake.

9. Ladle the chilled soup into bowls. Top with the flaked salmon, pickled cucumber ribbons, reserved spring onion greens and toasted sesame seeds.