Wood Ear Mushroom Salad – The Foodie Takes Flight

Care to share!

This wood ear mushroom salad is packed with fresh and crunchy wood ear mushrooms or black fungus with garlic oil, soy sauce, black vinegar, onion, cilantro and some chili for heat.

This is a very simple and easy Chinese salad that is perfect as a starter or side dish. This mushroom salad is also very easy to prepare and is made in a large batch a day in advance to allow the mushrooms to soak up all the flavors from the seasonings.

What is wood ear mushroom?

Wood ear mushrooms are, as the name suggests, fungi that grow on wood – and they look like ears, hence the name. This recipe uses black wood ear mushrooms, also known as black fungus. Wood ear mushrooms come in a variety of sizes so if you have access to large ones, you can always break them into smaller pieces. The bigger pieces are also thicker than the smaller ones, so the smaller ones are crispier/crunchier if you can get them.

This is Wood Ear Mushroom Salad

This recipe was inspired by a very memorable black fungus or wood ear mushroom salad I had at a local Chinese Sichuan restaurant. They served a generous plate of salad and the mushrooms were perfectly cold and crisp. They pair very well with a bowl of steamed rice and other dishes I have (mapo tofu and braised eggplant).

I always have dried wood ear mushrooms in my pantry so I knew I wanted to make my own salad at home.

What you need to do it

mushroom

Dressing/Marinade

You can find the full recipe on the card below!

Add-ins

• 1/4 to 1/2 small white onion, thinly sliced ​​(depending on how much onion you like)
• 1/2 small red bell pepper, thinly sliced
• 2 red chiles, chopped (optional for extra heat)
• Chopped coriander leaves
• Chili oil, for extra spice (if desired)

Prepare the wood ear mushrooms

• Rehydrate wood ear mushrooms or black fungus in hot water for at least 1 hour. You can leave it overnight in room temperature water until the water is absorbed.

Make the dressing/marinade

• Meanwhile, prepare the dressing/marinade. Place minced garlic in a heatproof bowl.
• Heat the oil in a pot (you can use the same pot to cook the mushrooms later) until you start to see small bubbles. Pour it over the minced garlic. Add chili flakes/powder, Sichuan pepper (if using), sugar, soy sauce, black vinegar, and sesame oil. Mix well. Feel free to adjust it to your taste.

Cook the mushrooms

• Heat a medium pot with water. Once it boils, cook the mushrooms for 2-3 minutes. If you eat wood mushrooms, you can remove them quickly.
• Prepare your ice bath: I like to prepare a large bowl with 8-10 ice cubes and water.
• Remove the wood ear mushroom from the pot of water. Drain off any excess water. Place the mushrooms in an ice bath. Let sit for 10 minutes or longer.
• Separate or cut off any of the larger pieces.

Dry the mushrooms

• Remove any tough stems from the mushrooms. You can also rinse the mushrooms with water to remove excess dirt.
• Remove the mushrooms from the ice bath and pat dry completely with a kitchen towel.

Salad is being prepared

• Transfer to a large bowl or container.
• Add the dressing along with the onions, bell peppers, chilies, and cilantro. Mix well. You can also add chili oil for extra heat if you like.
• You can enjoy it immediately or allow it to refrigerate for a long time. I personally like to make it a day ahead to soak up all the flavor of the mushrooms.

Serve and enjoy!

• You can enjoy it as a starter or side dish and pair it with your favorite mains. I had mine with a really rich one Sesame noodles (Recipe is hereSo this mushroom and acidity helped cut through the richness of the noodles. Enjoy!

More Vegan Chinese Recipes You May Like:

You can pin this image