Octopus and Cucumber in a Savoury Heat, Made with HOT SPICE Umakara

In Umakara, chilli comes first on the ingredient list. What sits second, though, is chinpi (dried mandarin peel). The citrus aroma is right there beside the heat.

Which is why, combined with sesame oil, it is not only the heat that carries — the aroma rides in the oil too. The plain sweetness of cooked octopus gets pushed up from behind.

No heat is used. Bash the cucumber, salt it, squeeze the water out. Do that part carefully and the dish is on the table in 15 minutes.

Time needed: about 15 minutes

Ingredients (serves 4)

• HOT SPICE Umakara (the savoury heat): 1/2 tsp (about 1.5 g)
• Cooked octopus: 250 g
• Cucumbers: 2
• Myōga (Japanese ginger buds): 2
• Shiso leaves: 5
• Garlic: 1/2 clove
• Sesame oil: 1 tbsp
• Soy sauce: 2 tsp
• Vinegar: 2 tsp
• Salt: 1/3 tsp

Preparation

1. Bash the cucumbers with a rolling pin or a pestle until they split, then tear them by hand into pieces of a size that is easy to eat. Salt them, leave for 10 minutes, and squeeze the water out thoroughly.
2. Cut the cooked octopus on the slant, 5 mm thick.
3. Halve the myōga lengthways and slice thinly. Shred the shiso leaves.
4. Grate the garlic (if you have no grater, chop it finely).

Method

1. Put the sesame oil, soy sauce and vinegar, the grated garlic and the HOT SPICE Umakara into a bowl and mix well.
2. Add the squeezed cucumber and the cooked octopus and turn everything through the dressing. Water left in the cucumber thins the dressing once it is tossed and blurs the flavour. If it does not feel dry enough, squeeze it again now.
3. Add the myōga, mix briefly, turn out into a dish and top with the shiso.
4. Taste at the end and adjust the salt. Adding the soy sauce a drop at a time until the seasoning is where you want it is what makes the dish.

HOT SPICE Umakara is a spice with chilli in the lead, so the heat in it is plain. If children are eating with you, take their portions out before you toss, and shake it over the adults’ only.