This all-purpose Chinese Cold “salad” dressing is ready to add flavor to blanched or steamed vegetables, tofu, seaweed, noodles, etc. With this sauce, you can make a variety of refreshing, cooling dishes during the warmer months, and use it for anything you have on hand.
Chinese “Salad”
When we say “salad,” we mean it in the broader sense—not lettuce leaves. We’re talking about a broad array of Chinese cold dishes often served as appetizers.
In the summertime, people like to make 凉拌菜 (liángbàn cài), with whatever they have on hand to minimize cooking and heat in the kitchen. The concept is indeed similar to making salad.
But in China, it will take awhile before you see people munching on big bowls of raw lettuce and grilled chicken. At a Shanghai mall food court, there was an experimental salad bar like what you would find in any American city during the lunch rush, but there was NO ONE in line. They were too distracted by all this other good stuff:
Evidently, people in Shanghai would rather stay slim with a seaweed salad than a Western-style leafy salad!
A Dressing for Anything!
This Chinese dressing will make your dinner planning that much easier. I would even make double, triple or quadruple this recipe and keep it refrigerated to be used throughout the week.
It’s all in the flavor of the aromatics: garlic, ginger, Thai chilies, scallions, cilantro… The sauce is so tasty, it can be added to just about anything.
Simply blanch or steam some vegetables, say: carrots, celery, zucchini, cucumber, broccoli, cauliflower, eggplant, peppers, string beans, even mushrooms. You could also include some traditional Chinese add-ins like tofu, seitan, five-spiced tofu, bean threads, seaweed, wood ears, noodles, etc.
If it’s sitting at the back of your refrigerator, chances are you can make it a part of this cold salad!
This recipe is good for about a pound of vegetables. As with any salad dressing, add sauce to your dish until it reaches your ideal preference.
I used this recipe for 12 ounces of seaweed salad. The seaweed tasted perfect with the tangy sauce.
Here are some examples of dishes you can make:
- Chinese Tofu Salad (with tofu noodles, spiced tofu, or tofu skin, i.e. another version of our tofu salad recipe)
- Cucumber Salad (with smashed cucumbers, similar to this cucumber salad recipe)
- Steamed Chinese Eggplant (like our Steamed Eggplant, Hunan-Style)
- Wood Ear Mushroom Salad (like a different version of our existing Wood Ear Mushroom Salad)
- Seaweed Salad
As you can see from above, we’ve already published recipes for many of these cold dishes. But with this sauce, you can whip up an alternative version of any of those dishes!
Recipe Instructions
In a large heat-proof bowl, arrange the minced garlic, minced ginger, the white parts of the chopped scallion, and chopped Thai chilies so they are adjacent to each other at the bottom of the bowl (don’t messily pile them all on top of each other).
Now infuse the Sichuan peppercorns in oil. In a small pot, heat 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil with the Sichuan peppercorns over low heat until fragrant, taking care not to burn the peppercorns. After about 10 minutes, remove the peppercorns using a fine meshed strainer or slotted spoon.
Heat the infused oil just until it begins to smoke. Pour it carefully over the arranged aromatics in the bowl. It will bubble and sizzle!
Carefully stir to evenly distribute the heat.
Now add in the sugar, vinegar, light soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, salt and five spice powder. Mix well.
Finally add in the green parts of the chopped scallion and the cilantro. (If pre-making the sauce, leave these last ingredients out and add them right before serving.)
And that’s it! A tasty Chinese salad dressing of sorts, for cold dishes to take you through the rest of the summer!
Chinese Cold “Salad” Dressing 凉拌汁
Ingredients
- 4 cloves garlic (minced; 4 cloves = about 15g)
- 3 thin slices ginger (minced; 3 thin slices = about 8g)
- 2 scallions (chopped, with the green and white parts separated)
- 3 Thai chilies (chopped)
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon Sichuan peppercorns
- 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
- 2 teaspoons Chinese black vinegar (or to taste)
- 2 1/2 tablespoons light soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon oyster sauce (or vegetarian oyster sauce)
- 1/2-1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1/4 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
- 1/4 teaspoon five spice powder
- 1 tablespoon cilantro (chopped; or to taste)
Instructions
- In a large heat-proof bowl, arrange the minced garlic, minced ginger, the white parts of the chopped scallion, and chopped Thai chilies so they are adjacent to each other at the bottom of the bowl (don’t messily pile them all on top of each other).
- Now infuse the Sichuan peppercorns in oil. In a small pot, heat 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil with the Sichuan peppercorns over low heat until fragrant, taking care not to burn the peppercorns.
- After about 10 minutes, remove the peppercorns using a fine meshed strainer or slotted spoon. Heat the infused oil just until it begins to smoke. Pour it carefully over the arranged aromatics in the bowl. It will bubble and sizzle! Carefully stir to evenly distribute the heat.
- Now add in the sugar, vinegar, light soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, salt and five spice powder. Mix well.
- Finally add in the green parts of the chopped scallion and the cilantro. (If pre-making the sauce, leave these last ingredients out and add them right before serving.)
How long does this dressing keep refrigerated?
Hi Dona, it will be good for a couple of days. You can add the cilantro when serving to make the sauce look fresh :-)
Hi,
Should the Tai chilies be dried or fresh?
Thank you.
I used fresh Thai chilies.
Can I use this for hot pot/bbq dipping sauce?
Sure, you can :-)
Love this recipe but changed a couple of ingredients to fit with what I had in the house and now it has become a staple sin our household. I used a lime instead of the Chinese black vinegar, light brown sugar, a teaspoon or 2 of dried chilli flakes, and skipped the salt and five spice powder. It’s wonderful and I love that it still tasted incredible even after my substitutes.
How great is that! Thank you for your lovely comment, Amelia.
Will this be okay without the chili oil?
Yes, Tanuja, it is still very good without chili oil.
Thanks for replying, Judy! Just to be sure, would I keep the amount of ingredients the same if I leave out the oil and peppercorns?
I’m sorry, I thought you were having problem with chili. You definitely need oil for this dressing, but you can leave out the peppercorns :-)
What is the effect if I skip the sichuan peppercorn?
You can skip the Sichuan peppercorn if you don’t have it. It will not affect the taste that much in this case.
Thanks! Planning to make this for CNYE dinner. Excited.
You will enjoy it, Jo. Use it as salad dressing, and don’t overdress your dish :-)