Chinese Wood Ear Mushroom Salad with Chili Vinegar 🥗✨

Description

Chinese Wood Ear Mushroom Salad is crisp, glossy, tangy, and lightly spicy, with dark wood ear mushrooms tossed in black vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, chili oil, sesame, and fresh herbs. It is a classic cold Chinese salad with strong restaurant appeal, dramatic visual contrast, and the kind of clean, punchy flavor that feels elegant, refreshing, and memorable. ✨

Hook ✨

Crunchy wood ear mushrooms, sharp black vinegar, fragrant garlic, and a glossy chili-sesame dressing make this Chinese salad bold, cold, and beautifully addictive. 🥢

Ingredients

• Mushroom base 🍄
• 🍄 40 g dried wood ear mushrooms (1½ cups dried / 1.4 oz)
• 💧 1 l hot water, for soaking (4 cups / 34 fl oz)
• 🧊 500 g ice water, for chilling (3 cups / 17.6 oz)
• 🥒 150 g cucumber, thinly sliced (1 cup / 5.3 oz)
• 🧅 40 g red onion, thinly sliced (⅓ cup / 1.4 oz)
• Chili vinegar dressing 🌶️
• 🧄 12 g garlic, finely grated (3 cloves / 0.42 oz)
• 🥢 30 ml light soy sauce (2 tbsp / 1 fl oz)
• 🍶 35 ml Chinkiang black vinegar (2 tbsp + 1 tsp / 1.2 fl oz)
• 🌶️ 20 g chili oil or chili crisp (1½ tbsp / 0.7 oz)
• 🌰 10 ml toasted sesame oil (2 tsp / 0.34 fl oz)
• 🍬 6 g sugar (1½ tsp / 0.2 oz)
• 🧂 2 g fine salt (⅓ tsp / 0.07 oz)
• ⚪ 2 g white pepper (½ tsp / 0.07 oz)
• For finishing ✨
• 🌿 15 g cilantro, roughly chopped (½ cup / 0.5 oz)
• 🧅 20 g spring onion, finely sliced (3 tbsp / 0.7 oz)
• ⚪ 8 g toasted sesame seeds (1 tbsp / 0.28 oz)
• 🌶️ 5 g fresh red chili, thinly sliced, optional (1 tsp / 0.18 oz)

Preparation

1. 1️⃣ Soak the mushrooms 🍄
2. Place the dried wood ear mushrooms in a large bowl and cover with hot water. Soak for 25 min until fully expanded, soft, and ruffled. Trim away any tough root pieces if needed. ✨
3. 2️⃣ Blanch for texture 🔥
4. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add the soaked mushrooms and cook for 2 min, then drain immediately. This keeps the mushrooms clean, springy, and pleasantly crisp. 🍄
5. 3️⃣ Chill quickly 🧊
6. Transfer the hot mushrooms into ice water for 5 min, then drain very well. Pat lightly dry so the dressing clings instead of becoming watery. 🥢
7. 4️⃣ Prepare the vegetables 🥒
8. Slice the cucumber and red onion thinly. Keep the cucumber crisp and the onion delicate so they support the mushrooms without overpowering the salad. ✨
9. 5️⃣ Mix the dressing 🌶️
10. In a large bowl, stir together the garlic, soy sauce, black vinegar, chili oil, sesame oil, sugar, salt, and white pepper until glossy, sharp, and fragrant. 🍶
11. 6️⃣ Toss the salad 🥗
12. Add the wood ear mushrooms, cucumber, red onion, cilantro, and spring onion to the dressing. Toss for 1–2 min until every piece is coated and shiny. 🥢
13. 7️⃣ Rest and finish ✨
14. Let the salad rest in the fridge for 10 min, then finish with sesame seeds and fresh chili if using. Serve cold in a dark bowl for the strongest visual contrast. 🍄

Total Time

⏱ Prep: 15 min
🔥 Cook/Bake: 2 min
🛋 Rest: 40 min
⏰ Total: 57 min

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