Wood Ear Mushroom Salad

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Wood Ear Mushroom Salad

This fresh wood ear mushroom salad is usually served as a side at Chinese dumpling and noodles restaurants. The wood ear mushroom is soft, yet crunchy and holds the sauce very well.

The sauce used for this recipe is a little sour, salty and spicy. Its the perfect appetizer to make you extra hungry. Wood ear is essential to this recipe, but you can also add fresh vegetables to this recipe as well! My family loves adding avocado, okra, and peppers to the salad as well. Hope you get to try this fresh salad!

Ingredients you need for your wood ear mushroom salad:

• 1/2 cup dried wood ear mushroom (will be 2 cups of woodear mushrooms)
• 1 tbs vinegar (black vinegar is recommended, but rice vinegar also works!
• 2 tbs soy sauce
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/2 green onion
• 1 tbs sugar
• half lemon, juiced
• 1-2 tsp chili oil (lao gan ma or sichuan chili oil)
• 5 sprigs of cilantro, roughly chopped
• 2 persian cucumbers, cubed
• 1/4 red bell pepper or 1 thai red chili (if you prefer spicy), diced

Steps to make the wood ear mushroom salad:

• Step 1. Soak dried wood ear mushroom in a large bowl of water for 30 minutes until they expand. Wash and rinse the wood ear mushroom 3-4 times. Be careful as the dirt can be trapped in the inside of the mushroom.
• Step 2. In a large pot, boil the wood ear mushroom for 1-2 minutes. Rinse and drain the mushroom until its dry and there is no water on the mushrooms.
• Step 3. To make the sauce, mix 1 tablespoon vinegar, 2 tablespoon soy sauce, minced garlic, sliced green onion, 1 tablespoon sugar and juice half of a lemon. Mix together until sugar has dissolved.
• Step 4. In a large bowl, mix the cooked wood ear mushrooms with the sauce you made earlier. Add cubed cucumbers, roughly chopped cilantro, and diced red pepper. Add 1 to 2 teaspoons of chili oil (depending on your spice tolerance) and mix until everything is well combined.
• Step 5. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to one hour to marinate. Before serving, mix the wood ear mushroom salad to ensure that the sauce is well-mixed. Served chilled. Hope you enjoy!