Salmon and soba noodle salad with gin-aigrette

Here’s a quick dinner you can make in less time that it takes to drink a long, cold G&T. The salmon is raw but gets ‘cooked’ slightly by the gin-aigrette. If you’re not keen on the idea of raw salmon, try this with hot smoked salmon instead (skip the marinating stage). I made this with the Reefton Distilling Co.’s Little Biddy Gin, which is fragrant with botanicals foraged from the West Coast bush.

Ingredients

1 packet	Soba noodles, (270g) (Main)
4	Salmon fillets, (120g each) skinned and cut into 1.5cm slices (Main)
1	Telegraph cucumber, peeled, deseeded and diced (Main)
4	Spring onions, finely chopped
1 Tbsp	Sesame seeds, toasted
1	Lemon, finely grated zest

Gin-aigrette

2 Tbsp	Lemon juice, finely grated
1	Lemon, finely grated zest
2 Tbsp	Gin (Main)
1 tsp	Green peppercorns
1 pinch	Flaky sea salt
¼ cup	Extra virgin olive oil

Directions

1. Cook the soba noodles in a large pot of boiling water for 4 minutes, or as per packet directions. Drain well, rinse under cold water and set aside.
2. While the noodles are cooking, make the gin-aigrette. Put all the ingredients in a small bowl and whisk until combined. Taste and set aside.
3. Put the salmon slices in a shallow bowl and pour over about half the gin-aigrette. Turn to ensure they are all coated. Let sit at room temperature for five minutes.
4. Put the noodles in a serving bowl and add the cucumber, spring onions, sesame seeds and lemon zest. Add a tablespoon or two of gin-aigrette and toss well. Add the salmon and a little more gin-aigrette, then toss again gently. Divide between four shallow bowls and serve immediately.

See more of Lucy Corry's gin recipes

• Gin and grapefruit tonic granita
• Lemon, gin and ginger bars