Enoki mushroom salad, also known as golden needle mushroom salad is a very tasty and unique Asian salad recipe that gets ready in less than 10 minutes. It can be enjoyed cold as well as warm.
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Chinese food for me was just noodles, fried rice, dumplings, stir-fries, and a few soups until I started working in a Chinese bank. There I got the opportunity to taste authentic home-cooked Chinese food from the tiffin of my Chinese colleagues.
I learned a lot of new recipes from them and today I am sharing one of them- a very easy mushroom salad recipe made with enoki mushrooms also known as golden needle mushrooms. Enoki mushroom salad is also popular in Thailand and some other Asian countries too.
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What goes in Enoki mushroom salad?
To make this Asian mushroom cucumber salad, the following ingredients are required:
- Enoki mushroom: It's a type of mushroom mainly grown in Asian countries like China, Japan, and Thailand. This mushroom grows on trees and is also known by other names like golden needle mushroom and enokitake (Japanese name).
- Carrot
- Cucumber: Use a variety with soft seeds and skin like Japanese, English, or Persian cucumbers.
- Bell pepper: Red, green, yellow, orange, all are fine.
- Fresh cilantro
- Spring onion greens
- Green chilies
- Lime juice
- Garlic
- Soy sauce: Light soy sauce are better for salads
- Sesame oil: It gives a very nice nutty taste to the salad
- Salt
- Brown sugar: Use light brown sugar
- Roasted peanuts
- Roasted black sesame seeds
How to make?
Making enoki mushroom salad is very easy. It gets ready in less than 10 minutes. Just follow the steps below:
- Trim off the root side of the enoki mushrooms and rinse them under cold water. Separate the strands using your fingers.
- Boil water in a pot. Add enoki mushrooms and cook for around 2 minutes. Strain the mushrooms and run under cold water to stop any further cooking. Keep in the strainer until all the water gets drained.
- In a bowl prepare the dressing by mixing lime juice, sesame oil, soy sauce, sugar, salt, and minced garlic.
- Make thin juliennes of carrot, cucumber, and bell pepper. Roghly chop cilantro and spring onion greens. Also, finely chop green chilies.
- Put all the ingredients in a large bowl. Toss well. Garnish with more toasted peanuts and sesame seeds.
Enjoy warm or cold!
Step by step photo instructions
How to serve?
This salad can be enjoyed both warm and cold. It can be served in any Asian meal.
You can also make it part of buddha bowl or stuff in Asian wraps.
During summers, refrigerate it for a few hours and then enjoy a bowl of this cold mushroom salad as an appetizer.
Can this salad be made in advance?
Yes, you can make Enoki mushroom salad in advance. It tastes even better the next day when all the flavors get blended in.
Recipe tips and tricks
- Make sure to use fresh enoki mushrooms that have not turned bad.
- Clean the mushrooms properly under cold running water to get rid of any hidden dirt.
- Don't overcook the mushrooms, two minutes blanching is more than enough.
- After blanching, immediately put the mushrooms under cold running water to avoid overcooking.
- Separate the mushrooms with your hands before adding them to the salad.
- Make sure the water of mushrooms get properly drained otherwise the salad will become watery.
- More vegetables like cabbage or bean sprouts can also be added to this salad.
- This salad tastes more delicious the next day so you can plan to make it in advance. Just add more roasted peanuts and sesame seeds before serving for the extra crunch.
Frequently asked questions
Enoki mushrooms have a texture like other mushrooms i.e. meaty and chewy but their taste is very mild in comparison to other mushrooms.
Enoki mushrooms become slimy, develop spots and smell foul on turning bad.
Yes, people do eat them raw too.
I personally prefer the taste of slightly cooked enoki mushrooms. However, I would also recommend not to overcook them.
More easy Asian mushroom recipes
Looking for more easy Asian mushroom recipes? Don't miss to check the following links:
- Mushroom tom yum soup
- Mushroom noodles
- Thai stir fried mushrooms
- Stir fried tofu with bean sprouts and mushrooms
- Vegan baozi with mushrooms
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Recipe
Enoki mushroom salad
Equipment
- Cooking pot
- Julienne cutter
Ingredients
- 150 grams enoki mushroom
- ½ cup carrot juliennes
- ½ cup cucumber juliennes
- ¼ cup bell pepper juliennes
- 1 green chili pepper finely chopped
- ¼ cup roughly chopped spring onion greens
- A handful of fresh coriander leaves roughly chopped
- 2 tablespoons roasted peanuts roughly crushed
- ½ teaspoon roasted black sesame seeds
Ingredients for dressing
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- 1 garlic clove minced
- 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 2 teaspoons light brown sugar
- ⅛ teaspoon salt adjust to taste
Instructions
- Trim off the root side of the enoki mushrooms and wash them nicely. Separate the strands from each other using your fingers.
- Boil water in a pot and add the mushrooms. Cook for around 2 minutes. Strain the mushrooms and rinse under cold water to stop further cooking. Leave the mushrooms in the strainer for a few minutes to get rid of the water.
- Put all the dressing ingredients in a bowl and mix.
- Take a large bowl and put all the salad ingredients into it. Pour the dressing on top. Gently toss everything.
- Garnish with some more roasted peanuts and sesame seeds. Enjoy!
Notes
- Don't overcook enoki mushrooms, 2 minutes are sufficient.
- Immediately after taking the mushrooms out of boiling water run them under cold water to avoid overcooking.
- Separate the mushrooms with your hands before adding them to the salad.
- Make sure the water of mushrooms get properly drained otherwise the salad will become watery.
- More recipe tips and tricks are given within the post above. Please follow them to make this recipe.
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