Before Dough Zone spread to four states and had over twenty locations, it was once a small shop in Bellevue we loved to frequent. During my short- lived stint as a vegan, I picked out their vegetable dishes, which is how I ended up trying a humble looking salad, simply called “a choy salad”. When it was served, it looked non- assuming, but even my husband (who was not a practicing vegan) attacked it after giving it a try. It was absolutely divine- fresh, nutty, spicy, creamy all at once.
Since then, I’ve been on the hunt for this little known vegetable. I’ve never seen them at my local Asian grocery stores, but have encountered them a few times when I’ve ordered my Weee! Grocery delivery. They don’t have it often either, but I snag them when it’s available. Funny enough, during a recent visit to San Francisco, every corner in Chinatown had it. But it’s not like I can stick it in my luggage. A choy is VERY delicate and really, should be prepared as soon as they are purchased. Indeed, even the dressing itself can sometimes weigh it down, making it look flat and soggy. This was my major difficulty while taking photos for this blog post. Not only was it difficult in general, but also, the pressure surmounted, as you really have to serve these immediately after tossing them together. I was not inclined to toss them in the compost after being done with it.
That being said, if you’d like to use a hardier vegetable, bok choy or romaine lettuce will do. Choose the “baby” bok choy, as it has more or less an equal amount of leaf to stalk ratio. The pictures I posted don’t do it justice, but this salad was devoured by my family. It’s slightly tart, nutty and bold, but still kept fresh thanks to the greens and balanced out by palate- cleansing fennel.
Even if I made it weekly for the sake of my photography skills, I am pretty sure there won’t be complaints here at home.
Sinigang- Sesame Achoy Salad
Serves: 4- 6
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 10 minutes
Ingredients:
Dressing: Yields ½ cup
¼ cup tahini
1 tbsp sinigang mix
1/4 cup boiling water
½ tsp cayenne
½ tsp garlic powder
¼ tsp ground ginger
½ tsp sesame oil
Shrimp:
½ lb tail on peeled shrimp
¼ tsp garlic powder
Oil for sauteing
The rest of the salad:
1 large stalk of a-choy, romaine or bok choy, chopped
1 large roma tomato, chopped
¼ cucumber, sliced
¼ red onion, sliced
Fennel, cut using a peeler
Instructions:
In a small bowl, add all dressing ingredients and whisk until well combined. Set aside.
In a frying pan, cook garlic until fragrant. Pan fry shrimp on both sides, until golden. Set aside.
Toss the salad, shrimp and a few spoonfuls of dressing together. Serve immediately.
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