This delightful dish marries the warmth of buttery rice with a cool cucumber sauce, tangy pickles, and soft-centered eggs, offering a refreshing yet comforting meal. The interplay of hot and cold elements makes it an ideal option for a quick summer lunch or an easy weeknight dinner.
To serve two, you’ll need to prepare the rice and eggs with 200g of Japanese short-grain rice, two medium eggs, 40g of soft salted butter, and three finely sliced spring onions, seasoning with salt and black pepper. The pickled cucumbers require 200g of baby cucumbers, sliced into rounds, one teaspoon of flaky sea salt, three tablespoons of caster sugar, 75ml of white-wine vinegar, one tablespoon of olive oil, a small handful of chopped fresh dill, and half a teaspoon of dried mint. For the cucumber sauce, use one large peeled and deseeded cucumber, 100g of crème fraîche, a generous pinch of flaky salt, one garlic clove, and an ice cube.
Start with the pickles by placing the cucumber slices in a heatproof bowl, sprinkling them with salt, and tossing well. In another bowl, mix 75ml of freshly boiled water with sugar and white-wine vinegar, then pour this over the cucumbers to pickle as you prepare the rest of the ingredients. Rinse the rice until the water runs clear, drain it well, and cook it in a rice cooker or a saucepan with 250ml of cold water and a pinch of salt. Once boiling, reduce the heat to its lowest setting, cover, and cook for about eight minutes. Remove from heat and keep covered for another 10 minutes.
For the cucumber sauce, blend the cucumber, crème fraîche, salt, and garlic until smooth, then refrigerate with an ice cube to maintain its chill. Meanwhile, boil a saucepan of water to cook the eggs for seven minutes, then rinse them under cold water before peeling. Drain the pickled cucumbers and mix them with olive oil, dill, and mint.
Assemble the dish by dividing the warm rice into two bowls, adding pieces of soft butter to melt over the rice. Spoon the chilled cucumber sauce around the rice and top with the pickled cucumbers. Halve the peeled eggs and place them on top, finishing with sliced spring onions and seasoning the eggs with salt and freshly ground black pepper for a light, flavorful, and satisfying meal. Serve immediately to enjoy the contrast of warm and chilled components.