This cold oyster mushrooms and spinach recipe is a spicy and savory dish for your summer dining. When the hot summer comes, we Chinese usually don't like to eat very hot food. In summer, my Chinese Home Kitchen will feature a lot of healthy cold dishes because we know the demand for cool table dishes in summer. Cold dishes are also more convenient to make, since you don't need to stay in the hot kitchen for too long. When eating spinach, I like to use boiling water to blanch the spinach first, because spinach contains oxalic acid. By blanching the spinach, most of the oxalic acid is dissolved in the boiling water, and the taste of the spinach is improved.
Prepare the ingredients. Remove the roots of the spinach and wash it clean.
Chop the chili peppers and mince the garlic.
Tear the oyster mushrooms into small pieces and rinse thoroughly to clean them.
Prepare the sauce: Put minced garlic, chili pepper, chili powder and white sesame seeds in a bowl. Heat 30ml oil to 150° C (302° F), pour into the bowl, stir to combine while the chili powder sizzles.
3 fresh xiaomila chili peppers, 3 cloves garlic, 10 ml Chinese chili powder, 1 g white sesame seeds, 30 ml caiziyou (roasted rapeseed oil)
Then add seasoning (light soy sauce, oyster sauce, black vinegar, salt, sugar), mix well and set aside.
10 ml light soy sauce, 5 ml oyster sauce, 5 ml Zhenjiang black vinegar, 2 ml salt, 3 ml white sugar
Add enough water to cover the mushrooms to your wok, or a medium saucepan, and bring it to a boil. Next, add the oyster mushrooms and blanch over medium heat for 2 minutes. Remove the mushrooms, but don't drain the water. Place the mushrooms in cold water.
200 g oyster mushrooms
Return the water to boiling, then add the spinach and blanch over medium heat for 1 minute. Remove and drain the spinach, then plunge into cold water to cool.
250 g spinach
Remove the mushrooms and spinach from the cold water and gently squeeze out the water. Place in a large bowl, add sauce and stir to combine.
Transfer to a plate and serve.
Notes
You don’t need to wait long, the mushrooms and spinach will cool quickly in the cold water. When you pick them up, they are almost cold.
Gently squeeze the water from the mushrooms and spinach before adding the sauce, or you'll have a runny, watery dish.
If you have only one wok and it is seasoned for stir-frying, use a medium or large saucepan with just enough water to cover the mushrooms and spinach. Boiling water in a seasoned wok will strip the seasoning, and it will have to be re-seasoned before stir-frying or braising.