Halloumi is a well-loved cheese that originated from Cyprus and is known for its salty flavour and distinctive ‘squeaky’ texture.
It is often included in summer salads and can be turned into halloumi fries or sticks for a tasty, cheesy side dish or a starter seen in restaurants, like the popular peri peri chicken chain Nando’s. Halloumi can be used as a filling for vegetarian burgers or wraps, a topping for toast, or served with grilled vegetables for a barbeque.
The Cypriot cheese has a firm but slightly springy texture and holds its shape when heated, making it ideal for grilling, frying or baking. There are various dishes halloumi can be used in, but you might find that it gets a bit rubbery or tough for your liking during the cooking process.
Elly Curshen, a best-selling cookbook author, has shared one extra step to take when making seared halloumi to avoid this. She posted a reel on Instagram with her recipe for a halloumi salad.
The cook, who is passionate about cooking from scratch and using up leftovers, said: “The sun comes out and I feel compelled to sear some halloumi and make a salad. It’s just the rules!”
She shared that she has made different versions of this salad many times, but this version has got an “interesting backstory.” Curshen explained: “So, remember the feta preserving method that I’ve shown you a few times now so that feta isn’t wasted?
“It’s the reason a lot of you are here, I know. If you missed it, the feta is preserved in salted water and after I shared that I had so many people asking me if you can do the same with halloumi that I tried it out and discovered that yes, you absolutely can.”
The cookbook author told viewers that leftover halloumi can be put in a jar with salt water and stored in the fridge. She added: “I then discovered that doing that led to a much more delicious slice of seared halloumi, so now even if im using it straight from the packet and im not using up leftovers i will give it a little bath in some salty water, even just half an hour, up to a few hours or even overnight.
“It hydrates the halloumi, it makes it really juicy and delicious and then you just pat it dry, smear it with olive oil and sear it and it turns out absolutely perfectly.”
Curshen acknowledged that it’s a “small extra step” but she really thinks “it’s worth it” as it creates a “lovely, crispy outside and a really juicy, chewy middle.” She starts her halloumi salad by dissolving a bit of sea salt in some warm water and then adding the sliced or diced halloumi before leaving it for at least 30 minutes to “hydrate and get extra juicy.”
After this, she dries the halloumi well with a towel, smears it with olive oil using her fingers to rub the oil on both sides of the halloumi slices, and fries it in a grill pan. She adds the seared halloumi to the other ingredients in her salad, which are freekeh, mixed melon, basil, mint, pul biber, extra virgin olive vinegar and pickled jalapenos.
Curshen’s halloumi trick has been a hit with Instagram users in the comments section. One said: “Tried this for the first time today, a revelation. Thanks for the tip Elly!” Others described it as a “fantastic tip”, “super” and “delicious.”