Editor's note: This recipe is excerpted from Harumi's Japanese Cooking , by Harumi Kurihara. To read more about Harumi, click here.
Mushi Dori no Gomadare Salad
Sesame sauce using the juices from cooked chicken is so easy to prepare. This style of dressing with sesame, gomadare, is very common in Japanese cooking and is used for both meat and vegetables. This particular chicken dish makes a lovely appetizer, but it also goes very well with cold noodles.
Gomadare — meaning "dressed with sesame sauce" — can be made either with ready-made sesame paste or, more traditionally, by grinding toasted sesame seeds to a rough paste in a suribachi (pestle and mortar). Tahini, a Greek-style sesame paste is a reasonable and easily available substitute, but as it is not made from toasted sesame there is a slight difference in flavor. Unsweetened peanut butter is another possible substitute.
Recipe information
Yield
Makes 4 servings
Ingredients
For the Sesame Sauce:
Preparation
Step 1
1. Finely chop the green onion diagonally, reserving the green part for use during cooking the chicken. Soak in cold water for a few minutes to remove the bitterness of the onion, then drain and put aside to use later.
Step 2
2. On a chopping board, sprinkle the cucumbers with a few pinches of salt, rubbing it into the flesh, then rinse. This lessens the aroma of the cucumber and gives it a good green color. Hit the cucumbers with a pestle (if you don't have a pestle, use a bottle) and break it apart with your hands, to make uneven pieces.
Step 3
3. Pierce the chicken pieces with a skewer and place in a microwave-safe bowl. Add the salt, pepper, and oil and then place the green part of the green onion and the crushed ginger on top. Cover and microwave on medium for 4 minutes, or until cooked. Leave to cool. Keep the juice from the chicken to use in the sesame sauce.
Step 4
4. Shred the chicken with your hands and place in a serving dish. Mix in the cucumber and put the chopped green onion on top.
Step 5
5. Mix all the ingredients for the sesame sauce in a small bowl and pour over the chicken and cucumber.
