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About this recipe

✨

Recipe highlight

Why you’ll love it

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) glutensoy
• 🍶 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) sesame
• 🍬 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) sesame
• 🌶️ 5 g fresh red chili, thinly sliced, optional (1 tsp / 0.18 oz)

Preparation

• 1 Soak the mushrooms 🍄 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. ✨
• 2 Blanch for texture 🔥 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. 🍄
• 3 Chill quickly 🧊 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. 🥢
• 4 Prepare the vegetables 🥒 Slice the cucumber and red onion thinly. Keep the cucumber crisp and the onion delicate so they support the mushrooms without overpowering the salad. ✨
• 5 Mix the dressing 🌶️ 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. 🍶
• 6 Toss the salad 🥗 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. 🥢
• 7 Rest and finish ✨ 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. 🍄

Timing details

Nutrition

Estimated values per serving.

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