How to prepare other ingredients
Cucumbers
Cucumbers - rolling in salt
Place a washed cucumber onto a cutting board, sprinkle on some salt and roll the cucumber in the salt. Doing so will remove the stipples (bumps) and refresh both the color and flavor. This preparation method is called “itazuri” in Japanese. The recommended amount of salt for 1 cucumber is about 1/2 to 1 tsp. After performing itazuri, quickly rinse off the cucumber and then cut up.
Cucumbers - thinly sliced
Cut the cucumber vertically in half, and then thinly slice cut-side down at an angle from end to end.
Cucumbers - rounds
Cut the cucumber at consistent widths from end to end. This is also called an edge cut when used for cucumbers or Japanese long onions.
Cucumbers - half-circle slices
Cut the cucumber in half vertically, and slice cut-side down at consistent widths from end to end.
Cucumbers - matchstick juliennes
Thinly slice the cucumber at an angle, gradually slide and stack the slices, then finely cut into thin sticks from end to end.
Cucumbers - random cut
Cut off both ends, and rotate the cucumber as you chop from end to end.
Cucumbers - thin rounds
Cut off both ends, and then slice from end to end at consistent widths.
