This delightful recipe marries the warmth of buttery rice with a chilled cucumber sauce, tangy pickles, and perfectly cooked eggs with soft centers. The interplay of hot and cold elements offers a refreshing yet comforting dish, ideal for a quick summer lunch or an easy weeknight dinner.
To prepare this cucumber rice with fudgy eggs, you’ll need a preparation time of about 10 minutes and a cooking time of 30 minutes, and the recipe serves two. The ingredients for the rice and eggs include 200g of Japanese short-grain rice, two medium eggs, 40g of soft salted butter, and three finely sliced spring onions, seasoned with salt and black pepper. For the pickled cucumbers, gather 200g of baby cucumbers sliced into rounds, a teaspoon of flaky sea salt, three tablespoons of caster sugar, 75ml of white-wine vinegar, a tablespoon of olive oil, a small handful of chopped fresh dill, and half a teaspoon of dried mint. For the cucumber sauce, you’ll need one large peeled and deseeded cucumber, 100g of crème fraîche, a generous pinch of flaky salt, one garlic clove, and one ice cube.
Start by making the pickles. Place the sliced cucumbers in a heatproof bowl, sprinkle with salt, and toss. In a separate heatproof container, mix 75ml of freshly boiled water with sugar and white-wine vinegar, then pour this over the cucumbers, allowing them to pickle while you prepare the other components. Rinse the rice under cold water until clear, drain, and cook in a rice cooker or a saucepan with 250ml of cold water and a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil over medium heat, then reduce to the lowest setting, cover, and cook for about eight minutes. Remove from heat and leave covered for an additional 10 minutes.
For the cucumber sauce, blend the peeled and deseeded cucumber with crème fraîche, salt, and garlic until smooth. Chill the sauce in the refrigerator with an ice cube to maintain its cold temperature. Bring water to a boil in a saucepan and cook the eggs for seven minutes; rinse them under cold water immediately and peel carefully. Drain the pickled cucumbers and mix them with olive oil, chopped dill, and dried mint.
To assemble the dish, divide the warm rice between two bowls, topping it with pieces of soft butter to melt. Spoon the chilled cucumber sauce around the rice and add the pickled cucumbers. Halve the peeled eggs and place them on top. Finish with sliced spring onions, seasoning the eggs generously with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Serve immediately to enjoy the contrast between the warm rice and eggs and the chilled cucumber sauce and crisp pickles, creating a light, flavorful meal without the need for complicated cooking techniques.
