Chinese Celery Cilantro Salad

August 30, 2011 by Jathan Fink 9 Comments

A whole bunch of celery is used to create this quick cooked celery salad. Chopped and tossed with cilantro and a soy sauce dressing, it is a crispy complement to your favorite Asian meal.

While many Asian dishes are prepared with stir fried vegetables, there are some which are not, like two of my favorites, kung pao chicken and cold sesame ginger noodles. When this is the case, serve up this simple salad with your favorite Chinese dinner for added nutrition and refreshing crunch.

PREP: 10 minutes
COOK: 2 minutes

INGREDIENTS

1 bunch of celery, top and bottom removed, stalks separated and cut in half lengthwise
1 tablespoon rice vinegar or white vinegar
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
4 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
2 dashes Chinese chili oil or hot sauce (optional)
1/2 teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro (optional)

DIRECTIONS

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the celery and blanch for 2 minutes. Remove, submerge in ice water and cool. Celery should be softened, but still crispy. Peel off the fibrous strings. Cut the celery into bite-sized pieces.
In a bowl, whisk together the vinegar, sesame oil, chili oil (if using), sugar, and cilantro (if using). Toss in the celery. Cover and refrigerate to cool before serving.

YIELDS: 4 to 6 servings

Filed under Food Tagged with celery, Chinese cuisine, Chinese takeout, cilantro, food, recipes, salads, side dishes, vegetables

About Jathan Fink
Jathan is a journalist, philanthropist, and entrepreneur. He is also a travel junkie, foodie and jazz aficionado. A California native, he resides in Texas.

9 Responses to Chinese Celery Cilantro Salad

paizleysun says:

October 6, 2015 at 3:57 pm

Try making this with actual Chinese celery. You’ll notice a big difference in texture and flavor. I prefer to use Chinese celery in place of regular. Thanks for posting!

Reply
- Jathan Fink says:
  
  October 6, 2015 at 4:20 pm
  
  Thanks for the tip! Now that we live in an area with actual Asian markets, hopefully we’ll be able to find Chinese Celery a lot easier. 🙂
  
  Reply
guitar tuner microphone says:

December 14, 2014 at 6:41 pm

Hey! This post could not be written any better! Reading through this post reminds me of my good old room mate! He always kept chatting about this. I will forward this post to him. Pretty sure he will have a good read. Thank you for sharing!

Reply
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Ruth says:

September 2, 2011 at 10:54 am

Awesome blog, do you have Twitter or Facebook? I will bookmark this page thanks.

Reply
- Jathan Fink says:
  
  September 3, 2011 at 2:01 am
  
  Hi Ruth,
  
  Yes, we’re on both! You can follow us on Twitter @JathanHeather or on Facebook. Thanks for writing!
  
  Jathan & Heather
  
  Reply
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