Chinese Spinach and Peanut Salad Recipe

This blend of spinach and peanuts is most usually observed in Dongbei, Northeastern China, where equally components mature plentifully in the summer time.

Importantly, this recipe demonstrates how Chinese salads practically always function cooked and not uncooked greens (a single of the large exceptions to this, of study course, is also a person of the most famous: smashed cucumber salad). The approach is fairly equivalent to Korean sigeumchi namul and Japanese goma-ae, in which darkish leafy greens are also blanched and then squeezed. The thought is very simple: water doesn’t style like a great deal, so blanching and squeezing gets rid of that drinking water, leaving guiding additional taste, though also locking in the location the vegetable’s vibrant taste and coloration.

As for the vinaigrette, this recipe normally takes advantage of my “all-purpose” Chinese vinaigrette, altering that base recipe only with some extra garlic for a little bit additional punch. This vinaigrette recipe is 1 I designed soon after surveying scores of recipes for Chinese cold dishes acknowledged as liangcai (涼菜). Although variants are countless, I uncovered more than enough prevalent themes amid the recipes to come up with a standard all-function variation constructed on a by-volume ratio of 3 elements savory component (like soy sauce) to a few parts aromatic oil to one particular portion acidic ingredient (like vinegar) to a person part sugar.

It truly is a adaptable dressing that can grace numerous dishes, scorching and cold, and it can be altered as wished-for to build distinct flavor combinations, based on the dish. Much like a Western vinaigrette’s fundamental 3:1 of oil to vinegar rule-of-thumb, this 3:3:1:1 Chinese dressing ratio is a practical way to deliver some composition and guidelines, building it less complicated to be inventive although creating a flavor profile that is accurate to the cuisine.

This dish is most effective served as an appetizer to open up up the palate for the relaxation of the meal or subsequent to heavier braises and stir-fries, as would be regular in Northern China.