“Salad” is a word introduced to China, and was translated by pronunciation rather than meaning. The Chinese word for salad, 色拉 ( se la ) therefore sounds foreign. It makes people think that salad is a foreign genre of dishes to Chinese. It seems logical that we created a new word for “salad” because we did not have one in our language. But we do. We have this type of dish called 凉拌菜，literally translated to “cold-mix-dish”. “Cold-mix-dish” is cold, and ingredients are mixed with dressing. So…it is a salad. Almost any ingredient can be used as the primary ingredient in a cold-mix-dish, but vegetables appear most frequently. In a formal meal, cold-mix-dishes are served before hot dishes. Although there isn’t exactly a concept of appetizer in Chinese cuisine, I think cold-mix-dishes serve this purpose. Dressing sauce often invovles vinegar, which stimulates appetite. (However it is not the case in the recipe I am going to discuss below. I will get into other cold dishes with different vinegar dressings in the future.) In casual home meal, cold-mix-dishes not only add varieties to the table but also are good section to incorporate vegetables into diet.

I am going to introduce one of the most popular Chinese salads in my house—The Spinach Salad with Peanut Sauce or as we call it peanut sauce mix spinach 花生酱拌菠菜. It is quick, simple, and nutritious. I like to make it when I want to add another vegetable dish but do not wish to spend much time on it.

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Chinese Peanut Sauce Spinach Salad

Course Salad

Cuisine Chinese

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 2 minutes

Total Time 7 minutes

Author Dylis

Ingredients

• 1 bunch Spinach or about 215g
• 2 tbsp Peanut Butter crunchy
• 1 tbsp Water
• 1 tbsp Sugar
• 1 tsp Fresh/light Soy Sauce

Instructions

1. Add enough water in a pot, after water boils, add spinach in and cook for 2 minutes, then take them out and rinse under cold running water.

2. Squeeze spinach to get rid of excess water.  Cut spinach into 4cm/1.5 inch, and stack them on the plate.

3. Spoon peanut butter into a mixing bowl, gradually add water, then add soy sauce and sugar until it achieves desired consistency and balanced taste of sweet and savoury.

4. Spoon dressing on spinach and serve.

Recipe Notes

• There is another dish called sesame sauce mix spinach. Guess what, it is the exactly same dish with sesame butter.
• The amount of water you add depends on the consistency of your peanut butter. Mine is all natural crunchy peanut butter, and is very very sticky. Similarly the amount of sugar and soy sauce also depends on the type of peanut butter you use. Mine is not sweetened, so 1 tbsp of sugar works fine. I suggest add half of the portion listed in the recipe if your peanut butter is sweetened. Then gradually build up. Taste it as you are mixing.
• Dressing should be running and not too sticky.
• I like using crunchy peanut butter to add texture, but it is entirely your preference.
• It is a good idea to wash and blanch the spinach keeping them in the same direction in a bunch. Then when you take them out and cut them, they look organized. Well, it only matters if you wish they look organized.

All photo credits to Joe.

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