Harusame salad

Ingredients:

8oz package of bean thread noodles
1 large cucumber
about 12 thin slices of honey ham (or very long thin pieces of fake crab)
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1 Tbs rice wine vinegar
1 tsp sesame oil
3 Tbs sugar
salt (to taste)
1 Tbs toasted sesame seeds
water to cook noodles in

Directions:

1) Fill a pot of water, enough to immerse the bean thread noodles in. Set it to boil.
2) Rinse the bean thread noodles. Turn off heat under pot.  Place noodles in the hot water.
3) Let the noodles soak in the hot water until they are clear and soft, but still slightly chewy. (Don't overcook them!)
4) While the noodles are soaking, slice the cucumber in half and scoop out the seeds. Slice the crisp outer part into very thin strips, about 3-4 mm thick. (You can use a food processor here.)
5) Put the sliced cucumber in a large bowl.
6) Add vinegar, sugar, and sesame oil to the sliced cucumber. Stir until sugar is dissolved and cucumber is well coated.
7) Salt the cucumber to taste.
8) Drain the bean thread noodles in a strainer (the noodles are too small to go in a regular colander). Let them sit and drip for a few minutes to get all the water out.
9) Put the bean thread noodles into the big bowl with the cucumber mixture. The noodles will be stuck together in a large clump. Add the mayonnaise to the noodles and spread it around on top of the noodle clump. You will see that the mayonnaise makes the noodles less sticky.
10) Slice the ham into thin strips. Put it on top of the noodles.
11) Stir ALL the contents so they are thoroughly mixed. Take a knife and cut the noodles in the bowl a few times so they are easier to stir in the bowl.
12) After everything is evenly mixed, salt the salad to taste, stirring to make sure the entire salad is evenly salted.
13) Put the toasted sesame seeds on top of the salad. Stir them into the salad until they are evenly distributed.


Story behind this dish:

In college, my husband and I had this dish at our favorite little sushi restaurant in Seattle. (They use fake crab instead of ham in their salad.) I tried to recreate this dish a few times before, but never quite got it. Then, a few weeks ago, I tried again, thought about what I did wrong before, and voila, success! We used ham because we didn't have fake crab at the time. I am pretty sure the fake crab will be fabulous when I try this recipe again with it. :)