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–+ servings

Summer Vegetable Salad with Sesame-Shiso Dressing

Prep Time15 minutes
Total Time15 minutes
Author Yuto Omura
Servings 2 side servings

Ingredients 
 

  • 2 tomatoes medium (about 150g per tomato), diced
  • 1 Japanese or Persian cucumbers about 100g per cucumber
  • salt
  • 50 g edamame thawed if using frozen, boiled if using fresh
  • 4 tbsp canned sweet corn
  • 5 perilla leaves (shiso) shredded

Dressing

Instructions 

  • Cut 2 tomatoes into bitesize pieces and place them in a bowl with a generous sprinkle of salt. Rest for 10 minutes.
    salted tomato in a mixing bowl
  • Thinly slice 1 Japanese or Persian cucumbers and place them in a separate bowl. Sprinkle with salt and massage until evenly distributed, rest for 10 minutes.
    a hand massaging salted cucumber in a steel mixing bowl
  • In a small food processor, add 1 ½ tbsp toasted sesame oil, 1 tbsp rice vinegar, ½ tbsp Japanese soy sauce (koikuchi shoyu), 5 perilla leaves (shiso), 1 tsp ground sesame seeds and ½ tsp sugar. Blitz until smooth.
    shiso leaves and condiments in a blender jug top down view
  • After 10 minutes, drain the water from the tomatoes and squeeze the cucumber thoroughly. Wrap the cucumber with kitchen paper and squeeze again to remove as much moisture as possible.
    salted cucumber and tomatoes in separate bowls
  • Arrange the tomato and cucumber in a serving bowl along with 50 g edamame and 4 tbsp canned sweet corn. Shred 5 perilla leaves (shiso) and place them on top.
    summer shiso salad made with cucumber, tomatoes, edamame, corn and shredded shiso in an off-white mottled bowl
  • Drizzle with the dressing right before serving and mix well until evenly coated. Enjoy!
    a small jug of shiso dressing being held above a summer vegetable salad

Notes

Thaw frozen edamame all the way through: Half-frozen edamame chill the whole bowl and weep cold water as they sit, turning the salad watery and muted. Thaw them fully and pat dry so they add firm, sweet bite.
Squeeze the cucumber dry, then squeeze it again: Press it hard by hand, then wrap it in a towel and press once more. Every drop left behind dilutes the dressing, so the second squeeze decides whether it clings or slides to the bottom.
Blitz the dressing to one smooth emerald-green coat: A quick pulse leaves oily liquid and floating leaf bits, so the flavor lands unevenly.
Dress the salad at the very last second: Once the dressing hits, salt keeps drawing moisture and the bowl goes limp. Toss it right before you eat so the cucumber stays crisp and every piece tastes the way you built it.