cold dish

Make crunchy Chinese pickled cabbage with this quick pickle recipe. It is so easy to prepare, and the result is a well-balanced crisp sweet and sour pickle just like the appetizer you’d get at a Chinese restaurant. {Vegan, Gluten-Free}

Chinese Pickled Cabbage (A Quick Pickle Recipe)

rice vinegar

water

sugar

salt

garlic (, smashed)

red chili peppers (more if desired (Optional))

Sichuan peppercorns ((Optional))

lbs (450 g) cabbage ((about half of a small head of cabbage))

carrot (, peeled)

Combine the rice vinegar, water, sugar, salt, and chili peppers in a small saucepan. Heat over medium heat until it reaches a simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes, until the sugar is dissolved. Use a clean spoon to taste the pickling liquid to see if it has the desired spice level. You can simmer it for a bit longer if you want the liquid to taste spicier. Once done, set aside and allow to cool.

Meanwhile, prepare the veggies. Cut out the cabbage core and discard it. Tear the leaves into bite-size pieces. Cut the carrot into 1/4” (1/2 cm) thick half-moon shaped slices.

Combine the cabbage, carrots, and 2 tablespoons of salt in a big bowl. Toss it with your hands so the veggies are coated with salt. Let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes, up to 1 hour (no more than an hour).

Drain and discard the salted water released by the veggies. Rinse the veggies with tap water twice. Drain thoroughly, and squeeze out the excess water from the veggies. Transfer them into a large container (or a jar).

Add the crushed garlic and Sichuan peppercorns (if using) into the same container.

Add the cooled pickling liquid. Press the veggies so they are submerged in the liquid. It is fine if a small fraction of the veggies are poking out from the liquid (because the veggies will shrink over time and become submerged). Seal the container and allow to pickle for 3 days in the fridge.

The pickles will start to taste good after 1 day, but the sourness will come through at day 3. Make sure to use clean chopsticks (or flatware) to pick out the pickles every time you serve them. They will stay good in the fridge for 2 to 3 weeks.

Smashed Cucumber Salad (拍黄瓜, pai huang gua) is a light and refreshing appetizer. The crisp cucumber is mixed with plenty of garlic, drizzled with an appetizing blend of soy sauce, vinegar, and sugar, then finished with a few drops of sesame oil. The sauce is light, yet it has a distinct sour flavor with a hint of sweetness, enhanced by the strong aroma of garlic.

Easy Chinese Cucumber Salad (拍黄瓜)

English cucumbers (about 11 oz./300 g) (, tough skin removed)

garlic (,

Chinkiang vinegar rice

soy sauce ((or soy sauce))

sesame oil

Homemade chili oil ((or store-bought chili oil),

Lao Gan Ma Chili Crisp (, or

Dry the cucumber with a paper towel. Place the cucumber on a large cutting board and carefully use a cleaver to crush it. If you don&#x27;t own a cleaver, a meat pounder will work as well. Then cut it into bite-size pieces and place them into a bowl.

Add the garlic on top of the cucumber.

Combine the vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, salt and sesame oil in a small bowl and mix well.

Right before serving, pour the sauce mixture over the cucumber and mix well. (Do not add the sauce beforehand. It will cause the cucumber to lose water, and the sauce will be diluted.

(Optional) To give the salad an extra kick, you can drizzle some chili oil or add a spoonful of chili crisp. It makes the dish addictively good.

Chinese Cucumber Salad recipe: http://omnivorescookbook.com/recipe/easy-chinese-cucumber-salad

How to Make Chinese Cucumber Salad

Mendocino Farms Curried Couscous with Roasted Cauliflower

olive oil, plus more for vegetables

Israeli (pearl) couscous

brown sugar

curry powder

turmeric

coriander

cumin

cayenne pepper

cauliflower

carrot ((peeled &

mayonnaise

cilantro ((minced))

lime

In a medium pot over medium-high heat, add 1 tablespoon olive oil. Add couscous and cook them until lightly toasted, about 3 – 4 minutes. Add 3 1/3 cups water. Season with salt and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer 5 – 6 minutes, or until the couscous is tender. Drain and rinse under cold water. Drain well and transfer to a large mixing bowl.

Preheat the oven to 450˚F (230˚C). Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.

In a small bowl, combine brown sugar, curry powder, turmeric, salt, coriander, cumin, &amp; cayenne pepper. Blend well.

In another small bowl, toss the carrots with 1 teaspoon olive oil and ¼ of the spices.

For the cauliflower, cut or break the florets into small pieces, about ½-inch. In a large bowl, toss the florets with 1½ tablespoons olive oil and rest of the spices.

Transfer the carrots to one side on the prepared baking sheet. Transfer the cauliflower florets to the other side of the baking sheet. Roast in the oven. After 8 minutes, check if the carrots are tender. If they are, transfer them into the bowl of couscous. Return the cauliflower to the oven and roast for another 4 – 6 minutes. Transfer them into the bowl of couscous.

Toss everything together to blend. Add mayonnaise, cilantro and lime juice. Taste and adjust with salt and lime juice. Transfer to an airtight container and chill for at least 1 hour in the fridge. Best serve cold.

Tender meaty seaweed served in a savory, sour, and garlicky sauce. This seaweed salad is very easy to make and is a perfect cold appetizer to add nutrition to your meal in the summer. {Vegan}

Chinese Seaweed Salad (凉拌海带丝)

120 fresh seaweed strips

peanut oil ((or vegetable oil))

Chinese chili peppers

cilantro (for garnish)

soy sauce

Chinkiang vinegar

sesame oil (, toasted)

garlic (, minced)

ginger (, minced)

If you’re using dried kombu, place the kombu in a large bowl and add warm water to cover. Let rehydrate until tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Slice into strips (refer to the blog post above to see how to slice the rehydrated kombu).

If you’re using fresh seaweed, rinse with tap water and drain.

Bring a small pot of water to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the seaweed. Let cook for 15 minutes, or until tender. Drain and rinse the seaweed under tap water to cool. Drain thoroughly and transfer to a medium-sized bowl.

Combine all the sauce ingredients in a small bowl. Stir to mix well. Pour sauce into the bowl with the cooked seaweed. Make sure not to stir it, so all the garlic and ginger will be on top of the seaweed.

Heat the oil in a small skillet (or saucepaover medium heat until hot. Add the dried chili peppers. Stir a few times until the chili peppers turn dark red. Immediately pour the oil into the bowl with the seaweed, doing your best to pour it directly onto the ginger and garlic. Toss with a pair of tongs to mix well.

Garnish with the cilantro and toss again.

Serve at room temperature or cold as an appetizer or side dish.

This is my Mom's delicious Chinese Spiced Beef Shin Shank 滷牛腱 that she always makes for us on our visits home.  It is a slow cooked soy and spices flavored shin of beef that becomes deliciously tender and fragrant with beautiful stripes of translucent melty tendons patterning the sliced beef.

Chinese Spiced Beef Shin Shank 滷牛腱

beef golden coin muscles

tangerine peel

star anise

cinnamon

tsp nutmeg

cloves

ginger

tsp fennel

Shao Shing Rice Wine

Blanch the beef shin in boiling water for 1 minute.

Pour out water and add fresh water.  Add all other ingredients and bring to a boil.  Add the beef shins and cover.

Boil at medium for 1 hour, lower heat to shimmer and cook for another 1 to 1 1/2 hour until tender.  When tender a knife will easily go through the meat.

Separate beef shins from liquid and chill both separately in refrigerator.

When ready to serve slice the beef shins thinly, arranging nicely on a plate.  Spoon out 1/2 cup sauce from saved cooking liquid and heat up in a small pan.  Pour over the chinese spiced beef shins.

Here is a cool, crunchy, vinegary dish for the hot Hong Kong summer.  And you can make this radish salad in under 5 minutes too.

Chinese Radish Salad 紅蘿蔔沙拉

g radishes

tbsp rice vinegar

tbsp sugar

tsp light soy sauce

tsp sesame oil

Using a knife with a broad side like a chinese cleaver to crush the radishes until they open up and are pretty flattish.  Use your hands to tear the radishes into bite sized pieces.

Add the vinegar, sugar, soy sauce and sesame oil and mix.  Taste and adjust seasonings to your preference.

Put in the fridge for at least half hour.

Remove just before serving, toss and serve.

Thousand year eggs are a special sensory treat, the delicate silken texture of the tofu against the slipperyness and luscious gooeyness of the thousand year egg is a taste and texture sensation.

Thousand Year Egg and Tofu 皮蛋豆腐

Thousand year eggs

block silken tofu

cilantro

tbsp sesame oil

Boiling water over tofu to cover, let sit for 10 mins.

Slice tofu into 1 inch squares.  Let sit to allow water to exude.

 Scrap off clay that covers the thousand year eggs and rinse the egg clean.  Crack and remove shell.  Slice each thousand year egg into 8 wedges. 

Arrange tofu and thousand year egg on plate, sprinkle cilantro over, pour soy sauce and sesame oil around tofu.

A simple but delicious cold noodle dish with a unique citrus component, perfect for any time of the year.

Mandelo Zaru Soba (Cold Buckwheat Noodles with Cocktail Grapefruit Sauce)

soba noodles

tbsp mentsuyu (home-made if possible, but ready-made is fine)

2.5 tbsp cocktail grapefruit (mandelo) juice (see note)

tsp cocktail grapefruit (mandelo) zest

mustard powder

tsp ginger

scallions

nori

cocktail grapefruit (mandelo) (to garnish)

Cook the soba noodles as instructed on the packaging until they're al dente.  Drain and rinse with cold water.

Combine the mentsuyu, water, mandelo juice, and zest, ginger, and karashi mustard powder and mix thoroughly.  Add the sesame oil and whisk together.  Try to break the oil up enough so that it doesn't sit on top of the sauce.

Serve the cold soba noodles in a bamboo basket (zaru) or in a bowl.  Garnish with chopped scallions, nori, and mandelo slices, and serve with the dipping sauce in individual bowls.

Yubuchobap are Korean fried bean curd pockets stuffed with sushi rice, basically the Korean version of inari. Sweet, savoury, sour, and addictive. Easy to make!

Yubuchobap (Korean Bean Curd Pockets)

White Rice (= 3 cups cooked rice)

yubuchobap kit (approx. 16 to 20 pockets; see Note 1)

Empty the vinegar sauce and dried seasoning packets into the rice while it’s still hot and mix well (see Note 1).

Optional: To make spicy yubuchobap, mix buldak hot sauce into the rice. You can add as much sauce as you want depending on how spicy you like it.

Open up each fried tofu pocket. Using a spoon or small rice paddle, stuff the seasoned rice into each pocket. It’s as simple as that!

These were delicious!! You were right, definitely had to make more than I expected because a few mysteriously disappeared on their way from the kitchen to the dining room 😋

Hiyayakko (冷奴) is Japanese silken tofu served cold, seasoned with a smattering of savoury toppings. With endless flavour combos, it’s the best lazy summer meal.

Hiyayakko (Japanese Cold Tofu)

tbsp soy sauce (see Note 1)

scallion

Open up the package of tofu and carefully drain as much water as you can.

Turn the tofu out into a shallow bowl gently to ensure it doesn’t break apart.

Pile on the toppings of your choice. That’s it… Grab a spoon and enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kg5VdG0We8k

To hot to cook? NO PROBLEM! Hiyayakko (冷奴) is Japanese silken tofu served cold, seasoned with a smattering of savoury toppings. With endless flavour combos, it’s the best lazy summer meal.

Detailed recipe: https://earthtoveg.com/hiyayakko-japanese-cold-tofu/

Music credit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEhXxvqQDvM

The Ultimate LAZY SUMMER Snack - Hiyayakko

English cucumbers (about 11 oz / 300 g) (, tough skin removed)

I am an avid fan of omnivore's and since I discovered it. I've never been afraid to experiment. I've never been disappointed. I made this cucumber version mixed with my own Filipino version, where I use our sugarcane vinegar and put some black peppers, and the cucumber literally sits in vinegar because we sometimes drink the leftover juices. Your ingredients were a great addition. Thanks so much,Maggie, for always guiding me..

I added a hand full of roasted peanuts,,,

Excellent recipe for summer! I used the bottom of a cast iron pan to smash the cucumber since I didn't have a large cleaver, which worked perfectly. I included chili oil and Lao Gan Ma chili crisp on my first try, which ended up being a bit oily for my personal taste. I'll omit the chili oil next time. Great flavor otherwise and will definitely repeat this recipe.

i love this easy hot weather appetizer
In Hong Kong where I live it gets very hot and humid so its perfect to have in summer
I often add some Japanese seaweed for extra texture and nutrition.

I'm usually sceptical of things containing anything vinegar but I sourced the recommended brand + chili paste and made a decent batch of this salad alongside a couple other dishes for a bigger dinner party. Like advertised, almost all was gone very quickly! I was careful to add the sauce at the very end but we happily enjoyed the 'well-marinated' leftovers the day after too. The only minus of the whole recipe was that the neighbours were probably not too happy with my hammering of the poor and defenceless cucumbers, but this is definitely a side I'll be making again. Thank you for the recipe!

This was so delicious! I will be making again and again

Love cucumber salad!  Would a few drops of Sriracha Sauce work for the added heat?

This recipe is amazing as all of your recipes are! I look at your website every day for what to make next. Thank you so much for sharing.

I was turning to this recipe every other week in lockdown here in Shanghai.  The government was sending us cucumbers and garlic often, and I made this every time! Now that lockdown is over, I made sure to go out and buy some lao gan ma to add to it when I make it again. :)

Very easy and good. I love cooking your recipes1

I love this recipe so much, I could eat an entire bowl of it myself!

Yet another excuse to use chili crisp. My wife is from Wuxi and she makes a cucumber salad similar but we never put chili crisp in it though she and I eat it like an addiction. We'll have to try it next time and make it with your dressing, its sounds delicious.

Great recipe, I salt and drain water from the cucumbers first, then the sauce over them is absolutely gorgeous, thank you

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYFzwZd3za0

Top 12 cold dish recipes from across the web

The most viewed cold dish recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine

Top Tags

Chinese Pickled Cabbage (A Quick Pi...

Easy Chinese Cucumber Salad (拍黄瓜)

Mendocino Farms Curried Couscous wi...

Chinese Seaweed Salad (凉拌海带丝)

Easy Chinese Cucumber Salad (拍黄瓜)

Chinese Spiced Beef Shin Shank 滷牛腱

Chinese Radish Salad 紅蘿蔔沙拉

Thousand Year Egg and Tofu 皮蛋豆腐

Mandelo Zaru Soba (Cold Buckwheat N...

Yubuchobap (Korean Bean Curd Pocket...

Hiyayakko (Japanese Cold Tofu)

Easy Chinese Cucumber Salad (拍黄瓜)

Top 12 cold dish recipes from across the web

The most viewed cold dish recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engineic_arrow_forward_48px

Top Tags

Chinese Pickled Cabbage (A Quick Pi...

Easy Chinese Cucumber Salad (拍黄瓜)

Mendocino Farms Curried Couscous wi...

Chinese Seaweed Salad (凉拌海带丝)

Easy Chinese Cucumber Salad (拍黄瓜)

Chinese Spiced Beef Shin Shank 滷牛腱

Chinese Radish Salad 紅蘿蔔沙拉

Thousand Year Egg and Tofu 皮蛋豆腐

Mandelo Zaru Soba (Cold Buckwheat N...

Yubuchobap (Korean Bean Curd Pocket...

Hiyayakko (Japanese Cold Tofu)

Easy Chinese Cucumber Salad (拍黄瓜)

The most viewed cold dish recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine