Wood ear mushroom salad is a Chinese cold dish or appetizer made with wood ear mushrooms, garlic, vinegar, soy sauce, and sesame oil. The salad is refreshing and dressed with a simple vinaigrette that brings out the flavor of the mushrooms.
What is wood ear mushroom?
Wood ear mushroom, aka heimuer, black wood ear, 黑木耳, is a type of mushroom (so many types of mushrooms!) or fungus that is used in many Asian cuisine.
Linguistically, 黑 is the Chinese character for black, pronounced ‘hei’, 木 is the Chinese character for wood, pronounced ‘mu’, and 耳 is the Chinese character for ear, pronounced ‘er’.
This mushroom is used in many types of dishes include hot and sour soup, and sometimes is also used in Chinese traditional medicine as it is known for nourishing blood and Qi, lungs, and has been used to lower blood pressure.
Wood ear mushrooms actually do not have a lot of flavor by itself – it is somewhat earthy and mild, however, it’s used in various cooking as it can soak up flavors of other things it’s cooked with. The texture can be either crunchy or soft depending on how long you cook it.
If you’re looking for more Wood Ear Mushroom recipes to try – check out my Wood Ear Mushroom Stir Fry with Shrimp and Eggs!
How to prepare wood ear mushrooms
Before cooking with wood ear mushrooms, you will need to soak wood ear mushrooms in hot water for at least 15 minutes to soften it. It’s ideal to soak them longer, you can soak them over night.
Rinse the mushrooms under the sink and rinse to clean. Then you can cut it however your recipe calls for.
For this recipe – we will be cutting them 1-2 inch length.
How to make Wood Ear Mushroom Salad
First gather your ingredients:
- 3 cups wood ear mushrooms, soaked and drained, cut about 1-2 inch length
- 2 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 2 stalks of green onions, chopped
Cook soaked mushrooms in boiling water for around 2 minutes. Remove and transfer to a cold water to cool it down. Then remove from cold water and drain.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the wood ear mushrooms, rice vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, and chopped green onions and toss to coat.
Serve immediately. Or if you are serving later, cover and refrigerate. When it’s time to serve, stir it again to make sure it’s mixed well before serving.
Wood Ear Mushroom Salad
Wood ear mushroom salad is a Chinese cold dish or appetizer made with wood ear mushrooms, garlic, vinegar, soy sauce, and sesame oil. The salad is refreshing and dressed with a simple vinaigrette that brings out the flavor of the mushrooms.
Ingredients
- 3 cups wood ear mushrooms, soaked and drained, cut about 1-2 inch length
- 2 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 2 stalks of green onions, chopped
Instructions
- Cook soaked mushrooms in boiling water for around 2 minutes. Remove and transfer to a cold water to cool it down. Then remove from cold water and drain.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the wood ear mushrooms, rice vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, and chopped green onions and toss to coat.
- Serve immediately. Or if you are serving later, cover and refrigerate. When it’s time to serve, stir it again to make sure it’s mixed well before serving.
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