Pangbianr Recipes: Summer Salads

By Maya, 2010年 8月 1日

The weather is hot. These salads are cool, simple, and refreshing.

YUNNAN MINT SALAD

(Recipe Adapted from Aimo Town in FangJia Hutong)

Ingredients:

1-2 cups Fresh Mint (loosely packed)
1 heaping tablespoon Lajiao (Hot Pepper in Oil)
2 tablespoons Rice Vinegar
1 tablespoon Sesame Oil
Optional: 2 tablespoons crushed Peanuts

Directions:

Wash mint. This is the whole salad.

Mix vinegar, sesame oil, lajiao (quantity can vary depending on personal spice threshold) and peanuts for the dressing. Mix with mint leaves in large bowl.

Allow mint leaves to steep in dressing for 10-15 minutes. Serve cold or room temperature.

COLD NOODLE SALAD

This is not really a Chinese recipe, so much as it is made up.

Ingredients:

1 packet Vietnamese rice or vermicelli noodles
½ cup Peanut butter
¼ cup Peanuts
1/3 cup sliced scallions
2-3 large cloves minced garlic
1 teaspoon lajiao
1 tablespoon minced ginger
1 bunch cilantro
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 bowl ice water

Directions:

Boil water for noodles. When the water boils, cook the noodles for no more than five to eight minutes (depending on the width of the noodles.) Vermicelli and Rice noodles typically cook much more quickly than wheat-based noodles. When the noodles are cooked through, transfer them into the bowl of ice water. If pressed for time, stick the bowl of iced noodles in the freezer.

In a shallow saucepan on medium heat, sauté the garlic and ginger in the vegetable oil. When the garlic and ginger have browned, lower the heat to simmer and add the peanut butter. Stir the peanut butter until its consistency is smooth and fully integrated with the garlic and ginger. Add lajiao and continue to stir thoroughly.

Drain noodles. Mix the noodles thoroughly with the peanut sauce. Allow to cool in the fridge for at least an hour or until the noodles are cool. Crush peanuts and slice scallions, wash and slice cilantro finely.

Mix peanuts, cilantro, and scallions with chilled noodles. Serve cold. Optional garnish: peeled, thinly sliced cucumbers for extra chill.

BEIJING-STYLE PAI HUANGGUA

This chopped cucumber salad is so ridiculously simple, it barely deserves a recipe. Dice some cucumbers. Peel and mince some garlic (a ratio of 1 clove to 2 cucumbers serves nicely, but use your intuition). Mix with some rice vinegar and a dash of sesame oil. Serve cool.

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