Even though a lot of Sichuan food is numbingly spicy, there are a handful of dishes that helps combat the spiciness. Introducing the Sichuan Celery Salad. The salad is not referring to a garden salad or a caesar salad but more like a potato salad or pasta salad. It’s meant to be served cold (not at room temperature) and as an appetizer or a side dish.
Western celery has a very mild taste when compared to Asian celery which is more herbal and earthy. The celery is quickly blanched and then marinated in a light salt and garlic dressing and placed in the refrigerator until chilled or even overnight. Even for kids that don’t like to eat raw celery are willing to give this salad a try.
Ingredients
- 1 bunch of celery
- 5 cloves of garlic
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 tbsp lime juice
- 1-2 thai chili peppers
Directions
Our first step is to separate the celery into individual stalks, discard the leafy portions or save them for garnishing another dish. Boil a pot of water and blanch the celery for about 30 seconds to 1 minute. The celery should turn bright green. Remove and immediately put the celery into an cold ice bath to stop the cooking process. The celery should have a very beautiful translucent green color, almost emerald like. In fact, another name for this dish is “emerald salad”. After the celery has chilled, allow it to drain.
Next, we will cut the celery into sticks of about 2” long and ½” wide. I find that the stalk closer to the root can sometimes be cut into three sticks while the top of the celery will yield two sticks. If you want to have your celery all even, trim away the bottom portions that flare out. Once celery stick is prepared, toss them into a mixing bowl.
Now, we will prepare the dressing. First, mince the garlic into small pieces. If you have a garlic press, it’s even better. Then thinly slice the chili peppers. Depending on your heat tolerance, you can remove the seeds to reduce the heat. The purple and red chilis from my garden are very mild so I included the seeds. Next, add all the remaining ingredients to the mixing bowl including the salt, sugar, sesame oil, and lime juice. Toss the celery in the dressing and put into refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to 1 hour for the celery to be chilled and flavors to impart.
When the celery is nice and cold, remove from refrigerator, plate it and serve immediately while cold. The celery should be tender but crunchy and full of garlic flavor and a nice hint of sesame oil aroma with a slight undertone of sourness from the lime juice and a tiny bit of heat from the chili peppers and the sugar to balance the salt. This dish is so simple yet it satisfies the palate with flavor, texture, and temperature. Perfect for the hot summer!
- 1 bunch of celery
- 5 cloves of garlic
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 tbsp lime juice
- 1-2 thai chili peppers
- blanch celery in a large pot of boiling water for 30 seconds - 1 minute
- put into an ice bath to stop cooking process
- drain and cut into 2” x ½” sticks
- mince garlic and thinly slice chili peppers
- add garlic, chili peppers, salt, sugar, sesame oil, and lime juice to celery sticks
- mix everything together and refrigerate until chilled and serve cold