Wood Ear Salad

Method

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1. Soak the wood ear in plenty of cold water 4 hours, until fully swollen and soft.

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2. Rinse them thoroughly, trim off any hard stem nubs and tear the larger pieces in half.

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3. Blanch them in boiling water 60 seconds.

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4. Drain and plunge straight into iced water for 5 minutes, then drain thoroughly.

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5. Whisk the vinegar, soy sauce, chilli oil, garlic, sesame oil, sugar, salt and Sichuan pepper together.

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6. Toss the wood ear with the cucumber and the dressing.

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7. Leave 10 minutes for the dressing to take, then scatter with chilli, coriander, spring onion and sesame seeds.

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Chef’s Tips

• Cold soak, several hours. Hot water leaves them slack.
• Blanch a minute, then straight into iced water.
• Ten minutes in the dressing before it reaches the table.

Common Substitutions & Variations

• Out of spring onions? A small regular onion, finely sliced, or a few chives stirred in at the end both cover the job.
• A pinch of dried chilli flakes works in place of fresh chilli — start with about a third of the quantity the chilli in the list implies, since dried chilli is more concentrated, and add more to taste.
• An eighth of a teaspoon of garlic powder per clove is the usual stand-in when you are out of fresh garlic — it will not caramelise the same way, but it carries the flavour.

Pairing Suggestions

• Smashed cucumber
• Bang bang chicken
• A cold beer

Storage & Reheating

Refrigerated for 3 days and it improves overnight.

Common questions

Nutritional Highlights

Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list. Treat these as an estimate — brands and cuts vary.