Name: Crunchy, Colorful Vegetable-Noodle Salad with Asian Aromas
Yield: Serves 4 to 6 as a main course
Cuisine: Asian
Ingredients: ¼ teaspoon anise or fennel seeds; 1 teaspoon Chinese chilli sauce (or ¼ teaspoon chilli flakes); ½ pound wood ears (see Note); ¾ teaspoon Sichuan pepper; 2 teaspoons sugar; ¼ cup rice vinegar; About ¾ pound red cabbage; ½ pound Oriental or greenhouse cucumber; 1 teaspoon kosher salt; 2 slim scallions (green onions); 3 tablespoons shoyu (Japanese soy sauce); ½ pound fine dried egg noodles (thin egg fettuccine or fideos); ¼ cup cilantro (coriander) leaves; 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon Asian (dark) sesame oil; 2 tablespoons peanut oil; 3 eggs

Preparation info

Serves
4 to 6
as a main course

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Vegetables from Amaranth to Zucchini

By Elizabeth Schneider

Published 2001

About

A tumble of eccentric textures and colors: curiously chewy charcoal-brown wood ears, magenta cabbage, crisp green cucumber, and soft pale noodles laced with sunny strands of egg pancake. The scents of Sichuan pepper, anise, and sesame oil are exotic, but not far-out. Although the preparation time is lengthy, the result is a complete one-dish meal that can be conveniently served warm, at room temperature, or chilled. If Chinese chilli sauce is lacking, add ¼ teaspoon chilli flakes to the pan