Monday, April 05, 2010

Fragrant Celery and Tofu Salad (芹菜拌香干)



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This may sound boring to some of you, but the moment I saw this salad over at teczcape, I knew I wanted to eat it!

The bonus, it's dead simple to make.


left: Chinese celery; right: celery

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I started by blanching celery and Chinese celery. I cooked them to still retain their "crunch".

I used marinated tofu because we had it on hand, but I'm sure regular firm or extra firm tofu would do fine. Then, everything got chopped up!



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The only seasonings for this salad are sesame oil, then salt and white pepper. That is it! Of course, feel free to adjust each component to your taste.



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The result is so fragrant and flavorful, you could hardly believe it was that simple.

Also, I did not realize that this is a "standard" Chinese dish! Of what origin, I don't know. Also, I think this dish is usually served with thin slices of celery and tofu instead of finely chopped ingredients. I'll have to try that the next time.

For the recipe, visit teczscape - an escape to Food.
Celery and Fragrant Tofu Salad, 芹菜拌香干

For pictures of other versions of Celery and Tofu Salad, click on the following links:
http://www.healtheat.cn/html/95/n-2695.html
http://www.meishichina.com/Eat/LMenu/200909/68310.html
http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_4b6ba8040100dfv2.html?tj=1




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For showcasing CELERY, Chinese and otherwise, we're submitting this post to Weekend Herb Blogging, a world-wide food blogging event (created by Kalyn's Kitchen, now maintained by Haalo of Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once) with the goal of helping each other learn about cooking with herbs and plant ingredients.

If you'd like to participate, see
who's hosting next week. WHB is hosted this week by Prof. Kitty of The Cabinet of Prof. Kitty.

6 comments:

  1. It's too bad I'm not the biggest fan of celery, because I could see this being delicious. Maybe if I substituted for some other veggie...like broccoli? Not the same texturally, but maybe still good.

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  2. Looks delicious and easy to make! Great!

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  3. Glad you like this dish. My friend who taught me this dish told me this is more like Jiangzhe/Shanghai cuisine...cold appetizers.

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  4. This is one of my favorite salads at Chinese restaurants. You can also add some Sichuan peppercorns to this for a nice kick.

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  5. Joanne:
    I used to HATE celery. Detest. But, I like it now! Maybe try them lightly sautéed. That's how it wormed itself into my heart (or stomach).

    kat:
    It's even simpler if one didn't blanch the celery first. Just not very Chinese, the non-blanching. =)

    tasteofbeirut:
    Thanks!

    tigerfish:
    Ah, Shanghainese. Thanks for the info.

    Wandering Chopsticks:
    Ooh, we do have that Sichuan chili oil lying around.

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