Vegetable Smoked Tofu Salad with Soy-Maple Dressing

Vegetable Smoked Tofu Salad with Soy-Maple Dressing

Name: Vegetable Smoked Tofu Salad with Soy-Maple Dressing
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Chinese
Ingredients: tofu; mung bean sprouts; carrots; cloud ear black fungus; english cucumber; green bell peppers; cilantro; soy sauce, tamari; rice vinegar; sesame oil; olive oil, extra-virgin; maple syrup; red pepper flakes; garlic; ginger; scallions, spring or green onions

Submitted by happyzhangbo

Lots of fresh veggies and smoked tofu are tossed with a flavorful yet light soy-maple dressing.

YIELD

4 servings

PREP

25 min

COOK

5 min

READY

30 min

Ingredients

EACH TOFU
smoked, 4 ounces *

CUPS MUNG BEAN SPROUTS

EACH CARROTS
peeled and slice into matchsticks

EACH CLOUD EAR BLACK FUNGUS *

EACH ENGLISH CUCUMBER
slice into match sticks *

EACH GREEN BELL PEPPERS
thinly sliced into strips

CUP CILANTRO
freshly chopped

Dressing

TABLESPOONS SOY SAUCE, TAMARI
or to taste

1 ½

TABLESPOONS RICE VINEGAR

TABLESPOON SESAME OIL
or to taste

TABLESPOONS OLIVE OIL, EXTRA-VIRGIN

1 ½

TABLESPOONS MAPLE SYRUP
or to taste

TEASPOON RED PEPPER FLAKES
or to taste, optional

CLOVE GARLIC
freshly minced

TEASPOON GINGER
peeled and freshly grated

EACH SCALLIONS, SPRING OR GREEN ONIONS
thinly sliced

Directions

Bring a large pot of water to a boil to blanch the vegetables and tofu sheet.

Add bean sprouts into boiling water, blanch for 30 seconds, remove and rinse under cold running water.

Drain well and place into the large mixing bowl with the tofu sheet strips.

Add carrots into the boiling water, blanch for 3 minutes, remove and rinse under cold running water.

Drain well and place into the large mixing bowl with bean sprouts.

Add the cucumber, green bell pepper, and cilantro into the bowl as well.

In a small bowl, whisk together all the dressing ingredients until well blended.

Pour over the salad, and toss gently with your hands, chopsticks or wooden spatula until well coated and mixed.

Season to taste with more soy sauce, rice vinegar, sugar, sesame oil and red pepper flakes.

Serve or put in an air-tight container and keep in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Note: Blanching these veggies will kill all the bacterias that can cause food poisoning, and also get rid of some of the bitterness from the raw veggies. In Chinese cuisine, blanching has been used a lot in daily cooking.