Asian celery salad is my go-to dish when I’m short on time or need to prep for a meal in advance. In fact, the longer you let it sit, the tastier it gets! It pairs well with a variety of main courses, or can be enjoyed as a savory snack throughout the day. More importantly, asian celery salad is a great way to trick myself into eating more celery. I like to make a large batch to enjoy over a few days, although it’s rarely survives longer than a day without being devoured in my house.
What is Asian Celery Salad?
The Asian version of salad is called 涼拌 (literally cold stir). This is a common method of cooking in Taiwanese cuisine, perfect for hot summer nights. It’s often made with vinegar, sugar, and other sauces and is commonly offered as a side dish when eating out. You can use many different kinds of vegetables to make asian salad – today, we’ll use celery!
Why this recipe?
It takes ten minutes or less to prepare Asian Celery Salad! You can easily make it the night before so that you won’t need to worry about making a vegetable dish for dinner the next day. Other perks of the recipe:
- Healthy and tasty way to add some more celery to your diet
- Easy to adjust serving size
- Easy to make in advance and refrigerated until ready to serve it
Ingredients and Equipment
You’ll need a knife, cutting board, and a container large enough to let the salad marinate. The recipe works best if the container is shallow so the surface area of the celery pieces can be submerged at all times. If not, just remember to give the salad a couple stirs every now and then to allow all pieces to be coated evenly.
The ingredients for the marinade are commonly found in most Taiwanese kitchens:
- rice wine vinegar
- chili sauce
- sesame oil
- sugar
If you don’t have any rice wine vinegar on hand, you can substitue out for a different kind of vinegar. Just keep in mind, you may need to adjust the amount of vinegar used if using a different type. Likewise, if you’re not a fan of spicy, just leave out or reduce the amount of chili sauce.
Cooking Process
Cut the celery, add in the sauce ingredients, mix and then let sit… that’s how simple it is! I like to cut the pieces at a diagonal to maximize the surface area of the celery – more flavor equals more yum! The easiest way to do this is to place the celery on its side and then cut across the top in bite-sized pieces.
If the celery isn’t completely submerged, mix the salad every half or hour to so that the parts on top have a chance to be covered by the marinade. I like to wait two hours before starting to serve the salad (although I constantly snack on it to “test” for readiness ^^”). The flavor will soak in faster if you let the salad sit at room temperature. The salad can be transferred into the refrigerator at any time, though, so feel free to let it marinate there if you have a busy day.
final thoughts
Asian celery salad is a great side dish or a healthy snack throughout the day! More importantly, it’s extremely tasty and makes it easier enjoy celery. Additionally, the salad keeps well for at least three days so you can make in advance. We hope you enjoy it, and leave us a comment if you have any questions.
Asian Celery Salad (晴菜涼拌)
Equipment
- 1 knife and cutting board
- 1 large container or bowl
Ingredients
- 10 celery stalks
- 2 T rice vinegar
- 1 ½ T chili sauce
- 1 T sesame oil
- 2 t sugar
Instructions
- Wash all the celery stalks and chop them into bite sized pieces, diagonally. Transfer to a mid-sized bowl and drain of all water.
- Add in the rice vinegar, chili sauce, sugar, and sesame oil. Toss until all sides of the celery are covered in the sauce. Set aside for 30 minutes, returning occasionally to toss.
- Enjoy right away, or store in the refrigerator for later.
