In the summer, I’m always looking for quick and easy dishes like this Chinese tofu salad, that rely on great summer vegetables and light proteins.
About Five Spiced Tofu
One of the ingredients I love in the summertime is five-spiced tofu. It’s a light and tasty protein that’s already cooked and ready to use. Rather than using the tofu in a stir-fry this time, I combined it with a bunch of crunchy julienned vegetables to create a refreshing Chinese Tofu Salad.
For this summery salad, we are using five-spiced tofu noodles (五香豆腐丝, wu xiang doufu si). You can also use the plain blocks of five-spiced tofu (五香豆腐干, wu xiang doufu gan), which can be julienned just as easily.
Based on a Chinese Supermarket Salad?
The inspiration for this dish came from our days living in Beijing. In the summertime, almost all local Beijing supermarkets have a salad bar. That is, an Asian salad bar!
So besides the more common salad ingredients like lettuce, cucumber, and carrots, you can also find blanched seaweed and bitter melon, glass noodles, tofu noodles, and even chilled and pre-sliced braised meats like beef and pig’s ears.
It’s not self-serve like a regular salad bar in the US. Instead, you tell the person behind the large glass case your choices and how much you’d like, and then they add your preferred sauce (with the perfunctory question of whether or not you want it spicy—i.e., with chili oil).
Finally, everything is tossed together and weighed on a scale in a container. The container is placed in a plastic bag, tied off with the price tag, and off you go.
In Beijing, people may eat this alone, with rice, with mantou (a kind of bread), or with porridge (Side note: believe it or not, hot porridge is a top choice for summer meals in Beijing, because it’s hydrating, and considered a light meal!)
Make This Recipe Your Own
However you serve it, this Chinese tofu salad is versatile! I used a selection of simple vegetables, but you can change things up with the addition of beets, asparagus, sweet peas, or zucchini noodles.
They’re all great choices for this salad, as long as they can be consumed raw. If not, you can easily blanch vegetables and rinse them in an ice bath before adding them into the mix.
This Chinese tofu salad is a satisfying mid-week meal or side dish. When it’s hot and humid out, it’ll get you in and out of the kitchen in a flash.
Ok, here’s how to make it:
Chinese Tofu Salad: Recipe Instructions
Wash the vegetables and dry off any excess water. Julienne the vegetables, and toss everything in a large mixing bowl, along with the shredded five-spiced tofu.
In a small bowl, combine the olive oil, minced garlic, sugar, white pepper, light soy sauce, black vinegar, sesame oil, and toasted sesame seeds. Mix everything together until the sugar is completely dissolved.
Add the sauce mixture to the vegetables and tofu, and top with chopped cilantro. Toss and serve either cold or at room temperature.
Chinese Tofu Salad
Ingredients
- 1 cup red bell pepper (julienned)
- 1 cup red onion (thinly sliced)
- 1 cup carrot (julienned)
- 1 cup cucumber (julienned)
- 1 cup celery (julienned)
- 8 ounces shredded spiced tofu (tofu "noodles")
- 1 tablespoon light olive oil
- 1 teaspoon garlic (minced)
- 1½ teaspoons sugar
- ¼ teaspoon ground white pepper
- 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon Chinese black vinegar
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
- 1/4 cup cilantro (chopped)
Instructions
- Wash the vegetables and dry off any excess water. Julienne the vegetables, and toss everything in a large mixing bowl, along with the tofu.
- In a small bowl, combine the olive oil, minced garlic, sugar, white pepper, light soy sauce, black vinegar, sesame oil, and toasted sesame seeds. Mix everything together until the sugar is completely dissolved.
- Add the sauce mixture to the vegetables and tofu, and top with chopped cilantro. Toss and serve either cold or at room temperature.
nutrition facts
I like this recipe and prepared the salad several times, but unfortunately the cucumber always draws out a lot of water so that the dressing gets very watery and diluted. (I did deseed the cucumber.) Is there some kind of trick to avoid this, or can I replace the cucumber with something different that also adds some crunch and freshness to the salad but doesn’t dilute the dressing that much?
Hi Oliver, you can lightly salt the cucumber (after cutting) to draw out the liquid or you can squeeze some liquid out of the julienned cucumber using a cheesecloth.
Hi Judy, I can’t find “tofu noodles” at any of the local Asian markets and I live in southern California. There is however a variety of tofu shirataki, and I don’t think it’s the same. I can easily get bean curd sheets – can I make this wonderful salad with these?
Thank you.
Yes, Rosalie, you can for sure use bean curd sheets. You can also soak the sheets in warm water for about 15 – 20 minutes to soften before cutting it into “noodles”.
I can’t seem to find 5 spiced tofu online anywhere. Also, I can’t find plain tofu puffs either (for a different recipe). I live in a rural area, so most specialty stuff I get online.
Any suggestions on a sub, or preferably a good online source of Asian groceries?
Hi Judy, I found the soy product you have pictured at my local asian market and it is same brand and similar looking but in a blue package rather than your red package. Mine has no seasoning, the only ingredient is soybeans. How should I season this recipe? Simmer the tofu slices in a spicy broth first? Many thanks, we are enjoying your site! :)
Hi Amy, the blue package is its natural favor, not five spiced. You should use it as is by simply following the recipe. The tofu will take on the flavors of this dish.
Hi ! I started buying shredded tofu thanks to this recipe, and it’s so amazingly good. We usually make it with red cabbage, carrot, celery, scallions or shallots. It’s definitely in our rotation – and so are so many recipes from this blog. Thanks so much, you guys rock ! Merci from France :)
Yayyyy! I am glad to hear that, Claire. Thank you for your lovely comment.
My dad used to make a version of this when I was growing up. He would add agar threads and rehydrated shiitake mushrooms (julienned). He always used the blocks of baked tofu, but I also like the texture of the threads. The dressing was simpler but I prefer the richness and complexity of this dressing. I had to make a few tweaks to this recipe but I will definitely be making it again. Thanks for the trip down memory lane!
Hi Dr. Yu, you can try this dressing if you like a richer flavor: Chinese Cold “Salad” Dressing (凉拌汁).
Hi, may I know how long can I keep this refrigerated for?
A couple of hours before the vegetables get soggy.
can we use balsamic vinegar in place of chinese vinegar? Looks so good….
Yes, Thai.
Can I use plain form tofu that I’ll julienne myself?
Hi Len, you can use firm tofu, but just don’t julienne it too thin and be gentle with mixing, or they will fall apart and turn into a mess.
I can only find the dried shredded tofu. Should I add a pinch of five spice to my dressing? How much can you taste the five spice? Thanks
Hi STG, there is no need to add five spice powder unless you love it. It’s optional and I wouldn’t add more than a pinch for this recipe.