If you ever want a new way to eat spinach, this Chinese spinach salad recipe is for you! This cold dish uses ginger, soy sauce and vinegar to create an extremely refreshing salad dressing. And the spinach is blanched in hot water then chilled in iced water, creating a crunchy texture! The presentation is extremely appetizing as well with green spinach in a bowl shape and ginger dressing on top! You are absolutely going to impress your guest with this spinach recipe!
If you are looking for other Chinese salad recipes, try these articles:
Chinese spinach salad is a traditional dish from Sichuan and other areas of China. It can be served as an appetizer or a vegetable dish. I also like to add sesame seeds as a garnish to increase the crunchiness of this dish!
What kind of spinach should I use?
For this dish, I highly recommend using Chinese/Taiwanese spinach for the stronger stems and crunchy texture. Chinese spinach is typically larger in size than the baby spinach for salads. Chinese spinach can be easily purchased in any Asian grocery store! 
How to blanch spinach for spinach salad?
Blanch spinach in boiling water for 1 minute and immediately remove from hot water. Note that if cooked too long, the spinach will lose its texture and become mushy. 
Is an iced water bath necessary?
Yes. For this dish I recommend giving blanched spinach an iced water bath immediately after blanching. The iced water helps spinach keep the bright green color and crunchy texture which are so important for this salad. However if you don’t have iced water, feel free to run cold water on the spinach to cool it down immediately!
Ingredients:
Spinach: 1 lb
Ginger: 1 piece
Soy sauce: 1 tbsp
Vinegar: 2 tsp
Salt: ¼ tsp
Sesame oil: 1 tbsp
Roasted sesame for garnish
Instructions:
- Chop off the root part of spinach and cut spinach into 1 inch pieces. Wash thoroughly under water.
- Finely chop ginger. In a bowl combine ginger, soy sauce, vinegar, salt and sesame oil to make a salad dressing
- In a large bowl, prepare iced water. Bring a pot of water to boil. Blanch spinach for 1 minute and immediately remove and drop in the iced water.
- Drain spinach and press into a small bowl. Turn the bowl over on a serving plate so the spinach lay in a bowl shape.
- Use a spoon to put dressing on top of spinach. The ginger should stay on top of the spinach.
- Sprinkle roasted sesame on top if available.
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Chop off the root part of spinach and cut spinach into 1 inch pieces. Wash thoroughly under water.
- Finely chop ginger. In a bowl combine ginger, soy sauce, vinegar, salt and sesame oil to make a salad dressing
- In a large bowl, prepare iced water. Bring a pot of water to boil. Blanch spinach for 1 minute and immediately remove and drop in the iced water.
- Drain spinach and press into a small bowl. Turn the bowl over on a serving plate so the spinach lay in a bowl shape.
- Use a spoon to put dressing on top of spinach. The ginger should stay on top of the spinach.
- Sprinkle roasted sesame on top if available.
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