Ingredients

• 4 seedless cucumbers (usually plastic-wrapped; 3 1/2 pounds total), peeled
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 4 teaspoons wasabi paste (Japanese horseradish paste)
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 3/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste
• 6 medium radishes
• 1 (3-ounce) container radish sprouts or baby pea shoots
• 1/2 pound jumbo lump crabmeat, picked over
• Special equipment: a 1 1/2-inch fluted round cookie cutter; a melon-ball cutter (optional); a Japanese Benriner or other adjustable-blade slicer

Instructions

1. Cut cucumbers crosswise into generous 1/2-inch-thick slices. Cut a fluted round from each slice with cookie cutter, then scoop out some flesh from center of each round with melon-ball cutter or a small spoon, creating an indentation but leaving bottom intact.
2. Prepare filling: Whisk together mayonnaise and wasabi, then whisk in lime juice and salt. Cut radishes into very thin slices with slicer. Halve slices, then cut crosswise into very thin strips. Trim radish sprouts to 1-inch lengths, measuring from top of sprout, and discard remaining stems. (If using pea shoots, cut sections with leaves into 1-inch pieces.)
3. Whisk together mayonnaise and wasabi, then whisk in lime juice and salt.
4. Cut radishes into very thin slices with slicer. Halve slices, then cut crosswise into very thin strips. Trim radish sprouts to 1-inch lengths, measuring from top of sprout, and discard remaining stems. (If using pea shoots, cut sections with leaves into 1-inch pieces.)
5. Stir together crab, wasabi mayonnaise, radish strips, and radish sprouts, then put a small spoonful of filling into each cucumber cup.