Chinese Baby Corn Salad
This Chinese baby corn salad (凉拌玉米笋) is a quick and easy Chinese appetizer side dish which can be made in under 15 minutes. The cooked baby corn is drenched in a sauce that is tangy, savoury & spicy. This mix of flavours certainly helps to improve one’s appetite especially in the hot weather.
More Simple Asian Appetizers:
Goes Well With:
As a cold side dish (凉拌菜), it can accompany any Asian dish such as sacha sauce noodles, stir-fry royale chives or Chinese ABC soup.
In this baby corn salad, the sauce is the key. It is made by whisking vinegar, soy sauce, soybean paste, sesame oil and fine sugar together. As the sugar I have at hand is not fine enough (and I don’t want to run out to buy all kinds of sugar), I needed some help to dissolve it. If you encountered the same problem as me, you can use a hot water bath (pictured above) or heat up the sauce for a few seconds in a small saucepan on the stove.
Baby Corn (above; pictured left). Cook the baby corn by boiling or steaming them. Drain the baby corn and arrange neatly on a serving plate.
Sauce. Red chilli, garlic & spring onion are added to the base sauce. If you don’t want any heat, you can use deseeded finger-length red chilli instead of chilli padi (bird’s eye chilli). The red chilli & spring onions adds vibrant colours and more flavour to this dish.
Drizzle the sauce over the plate of baby corn and it is done. You can served this Chinese baby corn salad at room temperature or chilled. It’s so easy!
Chinese Baby Corn Salad Recipe
This is a very easy side dish to make and it is addictively appetizing with its mix of flavours that are tangy, mildly spicy and savoury.
It goes well with many Chinese dishes such as noodles, stir-fries and soups.
Ingredients:
- 100g baby corn (玉米笋)
- 2 chilli padi or 1 finger-length red chilli deseeded and diced; to taste
- 1 tbsp chopped spring onions
- 2 garlic cloves minced
(A) Sauce
- 10g fine sugar
- 1/2 tsp light soy sauce
- 1/2 tsp soybean paste (or oyster sauce)
- 1/2 tbsp sesame oil
- 1/2 tbsp white vinegar
Directions:
- Cook baby corn by boiling or steaming for 5 minutes. Drain & arrange the baby corn on a serving plate.
- Prepare the sauce by whisking (A) in a bowl, until sugar is dissolved. If you have trouble dissolving the sugar, you can use a hot water bath or simmer the sauce in a saucepan for a few seconds on the stove. Stir in the red chilli, spring onions & garlic.
- To serve, drizzle the sauce evenly over the corn. This dish may be served right away at room temperature or after being chilled in the fridge.
Cooking Note(s)
- Use finger-length red chilli to add colour without the heat or use chilli padi (bird’s eye chilli) to give this dish a mild spicy kick.
- Use white vinegar (what I used), apple cider vinegar or black vinegar according to what you prefer and have in the pantry.