#cold dishes

[leviandier]

Pasta Salad

[man-man-chi-blog]

Quick and easy sesame noodles

This is my go-to recipe these days. I must have made it at least a dozen times in the past month, and its most simple version requires very few ingredients. It’s a great summer dish too, and you don’t even need Chinese noodles to make it. Actually, I dare to admit it, I prefer it with spaghetti...

Prep time: 20min

Serves 2

300g Chinese wheat noodles or spaghetti

1 carrot, cut into thin strips

1/2 cucumber, cut into thin strips

100g Chinese cabbage, cut into thin strips (optional)

100g leftover roast chicken, shredded, or 1 poached chicken breast, shredded (optional)

handful coriander leaves

handful sesame seeds (I like to use a mixture of black and white)

For the sauce

2 tbsp sesame paste (Chinese or tahini)

2 tsp sesame oil + a bit extra

4 tbsp soy sauce

4 tbsp Chinese rice vinegar

2 tsp chili oil, with its sediment

1 tsp white sugar

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

1. Cook the noodles or spaghetti according to package instructions. Drain in a colander and let cold water run over them for a while, tossing them in the process. Then add a splash of sesame oil, toss again and set aside.

2. Prepare 2 large bowls, and combine half of the sauce ingredients in each... or combine them all together in one bowl, and then divide the sauce. You do you :P

3. Add the noodles in each bowl, top with vegetable strips, chicken, coriander leaves and finally the sesame seeds. Toss everything together with your chopsticks, and enjoy some sesame goodness!

[man-man-chi-blog]

Spicy cucumber salad 凉拌黄瓜

On hot summer days, nothing beats Chinese cold dishes like this one. Refreshing and still packing so much flavour, I just can’t get enough of it.

1 cucumber

A pinch of sea salt

2 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp Chinese rice vinegar

1 tbsp chili oi, with its sediment (or more if you like it extra spicy)

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

1/2 tsp white sugar

Slice the cucumber lengthways, discard the middle part where the seeds are. Cut once more lengthways, and then into bite-size pieces. Put the cucumber in a colander with sea salt, to get rid of some of the water.

In a bowl, combine all the sauce ingredients. After 20 minutes or more, drain the cucumbers, place them in a serving plate and cover with the sauce. Enjoy!

[man-man-chi-blog]

Garland chrysanthemum salad 凉拌茼蒿

Chinese cold dishes always impress me with how much flavour can be packed into just a few ingredients. This used to be one of our favourite things at our local Kunming restaurant, and it was such a joy to have it again. I think the sauce is just sesame oil, Chinese vinegar and soy sauce with fresh chili and sesame seeds... But the exact combination remains a mystery.

Here is this plant’s Wiki page by the way, if like me when I first saw it, you have no clue what is actually is.

[man-man-chi-blog]

Tiger Salad 老虎菜 laohucai

This is normally more of a Northern dish, but I had it for the first time in Xiamen, Fujian. It’s a simple mix of cucumber, coriander leaves and green hot chilies with a good amount of sesame oil and sugar. I’ve only had it twice but can’t stop thinking about how addictive the taste was: both refreshing and deadly, as the chilies make it extra extra hot.

[man-man-chi-blog]

Chinese tofu skin salad 凉拌腐竹

Tofu skin, also called tofu ‘bamboo’ or fuzhu, is definitely one of my favourite soy-based foods. As far as I know, it’s pretty much impossible to find it fresh in the West, but you’ll see packages of the dry version in every Asian supermarket.

It’s great in stir-fries but to me nothing beats this simple salad. I made it with coriander only this time, but feel free to add carrot slivers or slices of celery for more flavour and colour.

Prep time: 20min

1 sheet or stick of dried tofu skin (they come in different shapes depending on the brand)

1/2 bunch of coriander

1 tablespoon light soy sauce

1 tablespoon dark Chinese vinegar

1 teaspoon chili oil (or more to taste)

1/2 teaspoon white sugar

1. Rehydrate the tofu skin: place it in a shallow bowl and pour hot water over it. Let it sit for about 15 minutes or until soft, and drain. Chop into bite-size slices.

2. Wash the coriander and chop it roughly (you don’t want to chop it too finely, as it acts more as a green than a herb in this recipe).

3. In a shallow dish, combine all the sauce ingredients, add the tofu skin and coriander and mix with chopsticks to make sure everything is evenly coated.

It’s that simple ;)

[lemoncooking]

Summer Dishes

It's hot as satan's arse here this week, so I'm not into cooking. I used the coolest part of the day to prep a bunch of side dishes and have been chewing on those at meal times. Clockwise from the red dish:

Tomato marinated in dashi and kombu

Salad of lettuce, cucumber and home-grown herbs

Chicken grilled in nori and macha butter

home-made mixed pickles

Egg and Potato salad with honey mustard

Pickle-salad of cauliflower, carrot and onion with sesame

Chilled green sencha tea

[njmauthor]

Cucumber-Dill Mousse

During the dog days of August, I love cold dishes. One my favorites is Cucumber-Dill Mousse. Perfect cucumbers are plentiful in the farmers’ markets, and this is great way to serve them as your vegetable dish, with no cooking required. Another virtue is that it’s easy to make, a blessing when you’re too hot to spend hours in the kitchen My cucumber of choice is the Kirby. It’s firm, crisp, has…

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