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A small white Japanese bowl of finished tataki ume kyuri — smashed cucumber pieces coated in chopped red umeboshi and bonito flakes, sitting on a wooden table

Tataki Ume Kyuri (Japanese Smashed Cucumber with Umeboshi)

A five-minute Japanese side dish: cucumber smashed with a rolling pin and tossed with chopped umeboshi, katsuobushi, and mentsuyu. Salty, sour, and refreshing — the perfect palate-cleansing side for richer mains.
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Prep Time 5 minutes
Total Time 5 minutes
Servings: 2 servings
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: Japanese
Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

  • 1 Japanese cucumber or a Persian cucumber
  • 1 large umeboshi pit removed
  • 1 small pack (about 2 g) katsuobushi (bonito flakes)
  • 1/2 tsp mentsuyu 2x concentrate — use less if your umeboshi is very salty

Method
 

  1. Rinse the cucumber and lay it on a cutting board. Whack it firmly along its length with a rolling pin (or the flat side of a knife) until it cracks open in several places.
  2. Tear or chop the smashed cucumber into rough 3 cm bite-sized pieces — jagged edges are what you want.
  3. Remove the pit from the umeboshi and roughly chop the flesh into a coarse paste on the cutting board.
  4. Put the cucumber into a mixing bowl. Add the chopped umeboshi, the full pack of katsuobushi, and 1/2 teaspoon of mentsuyu.
  5. Toss well until every piece of cucumber is coated in seasoning. Taste and adjust — more umeboshi for salt, more mentsuyu for depth.
  6. Transfer to a small bowl and serve immediately. For a slightly deeper flavour, chill for 5 minutes before serving.