Chinese Glass Noodle Salad with Vegetables and Sesame Recipe
A chilled salad with glass (bean thread) noodles, crunchy vegetables and a sesame dressing is a popular hot-weather dish in many regions of China. It’s light, fresh, slightly tangy and very aromatic. It’s perfect as a work lunch or a colourful party appetizer.
This glass noodle salad is the essence of Chinese hot-weather cooking – chilled, slightly tangy, crunchy and full of fresh vegetables. The transparent mung bean noodles soak up the sesame dressing, while the heat of chili and aroma of garlic make the dish light yet full of flavour. It’s a great example of how to turn simple ingredients into something that tastes like it came from a summer street stall in Chengdu.
Chef's tips
Be sure to rinse the glass noodles in very cold water after soaking and drain them well, otherwise the dressing will get watered down and won’t cling to the strands. Cut the vegetables into the thinnest possible matchsticks – the more delicate they are, the better they’ll combine with the noodles and dressing, and the more pleasantly crunchy the salad will be. Adjust the dressing at the end, after mixing everything together: the noodles quickly absorb flavour, so it’s better to add a little more vinegar or soy sauce than to overdo it at the start.
How to serve
Serve well chilled as a stand-alone lunch on a hot day or as a colourful appetizer alongside grilled meats or skewers in an Asian style. It pairs well with lightly sparkling water with lime, iced tea or ginger beer. I often prepare it the day before in lunch boxes – in the morning I just take it out of the fridge and bring it as lunch to the office or for a picnic in the park.
Ingredients
- glass noodles from mung beans dry - 150 g
- carrot cut into thin matchsticks - 1 piece
- fresh cucumber medium, cut into thin strips - 1 piece
- bell pepper cut into thin strips - 0.5 pieces
- chives or spring onion chopped - 3 tablespoons
- garlic grated or finely chopped - 2 cloves
- soy sauce - 3 tablespoons
- rice vinegar can be replaced with apple cider vinegar - 2 tablespoons
- sesame oil dark, aromatic - 1.5 tablespoons
- vegetable oil for heating with spices - 1 tablespoon
- chili flakes amount to taste - 0.5 teaspoons
- sugar - 1 teaspoon
- white sesame seeds toasted in a dry pan - 1 tablespoon
- salt to taste, if needed
Preparation
- Pour boiling water over the glass noodles in a large bowl and leave for 5–7 minutes (or according to the package instructions) until they soften and turn transparent. Drain in a colander and rinse with cold water to stop them softening further. If the strands are very long, you can cut them with kitchen scissors into 2–3 shorter lengths.
- Peel the carrot and cut it into very thin matchsticks. Wash the cucumber, cut it lengthwise, scoop out the soft seeds with a teaspoon and cut into thin strips. Remove the core and seeds from the pepper and cut into thin strips.
- In a large bowl, mix the noodles with the carrot, cucumber, pepper and chopped chives or spring onion.
- In a small bowl, mix the soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil and sugar until the sugar dissolves.
- In a small pan, heat 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and chili flakes and fry for about 20–30 seconds until the garlic becomes very fragrant but does not brown. Remove from the heat immediately so it doesn’t burn.
- Pour the hot oil with garlic and chili into the bowl with the soy-vinegar mixture and stir well.
- Pour the prepared dressing over the salad, add the toasted sesame seeds and gently toss everything so the noodles and vegetables are evenly coated.
- Taste and, if needed, season with a little salt or extra vinegar if you like a more tangy flavour. Chill the salad for at least 10 minutes in the fridge to let the flavours meld. Serve cold.
Storage
Store the salad in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days. Stir before serving and, if needed, freshen it up with a splash of vinegar or soy sauce.
