Celery Tofu Salad (凉拌芹菜豆腐 Liang Ban Qin Cai Dou Fu)

With no end to the 100°F plus weather in Texas this year, I have been making more cold dishes and drinks, like All Purpose Sour and Spicy Salad Dressing, Soft Tofu Green Onion Salad, Simple Bell Pepper Salad. This is another example of a cold dish that’s great when the weather is hot.

If you like celery, you will love this simple Celery Tofu salad. It’s super refreshing and works especially well on a hot summer day.

My 6 years old can finish the entire Celery Tofu salad by himself! I don’t think he’s shown such interest in other vegetables. It’s funny for me to see, because my younger, 2.5 year-old son has yet to develop a liking to celery. The contrast between my two sons’ reactions to celery is hilarious to me. But I’m confident my youngest will come around to celery just as he did with some other vegetables. Persistence is the key when it comes to vegetables.

Gluten Free, Vegan, Low Carb

Preparation Time:  15 minutes

Total Time:  20 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1/2 lb celery stalks ¹
• 1 to 2 baked tofu packs ²
• 1/4 teaspoon table salt (or 1/2 kosher salt) ²
• 1/8 teaspoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil ³

Preparation:

1. Boil a pot of water in a medium sauce pan. While waiting for water to boil, wash the celery thoroughly. If preferred, remove the strings from the celery stalks, as depicted.⁴ Then cut the celery stalks and baked tofu into similar-length matchstick pieces.

2. When the water boils, add all the celery and a dash of vegetable oil. With the lid open, cook/blanch the celery sticks for 1-2 minutes depending on your preference. For a crunchier texture, blanch for only 1 minute. For a softer texture, blanch for 2 minutes. When the time is up, take the celery sticks out with a sieve or colander and immediately rinse under cold water to stop further cooking. Drain well and put the celery sticks in a mixing bowl.

3. Then add the 1/4 teaspoon of table salt, 1/8 teaspoon of sugar, and 1 tablespoon of sesame oil to the celery, and mix well. Add the tofu sticks to the same mixing bowl and mix again.

Bon Appétit

Notes:

1. Make sure to use Western celery and not Chinese celery for this recipe.

2. I used the baked tofu bought from Trader Joe’s, which comes already flavored. If your baked tofu does not come flavored, mix the baked tofu and celery sticks together with the salt, sugar, and sesame oil (also increase the table salt to 1/2 teaspoon), rather than adding tofu at the end.

3. You can use chili oil instead of sesame oil for a spicy version.

4. It’s not strictly necessary to remove the strings since we are blanching all the celery sticks to make it easier to chew.

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