China · Chinese

Two-shoot salad

The second cold starter of the three-head banquet. 'Two shoots' means two ingredients: celtuce and bamboo shoot. The celtuce is peeled, cut into irregular chunks, salted and sugared until it releases water, which takes out the raw edge, then rinsed in clean water; the bamboo shoot is boiled until a chopstick slides through easily, cooled and cut into chunks of the same size. Both are dressed with salt and sugar and finished with chopped scallion. As a cold dish it must stay crisp. Public reference · home adaptation, not a historical original.

70 minutes · 4 servings · Easy

Two-shoot salad

Public reference · Home adaptation This two-shoot salad is the only vegetable cold starter in the menu, and it clears the palate before the two heavy head dishes so their depth can actually be tasted. It also shows a rule of Huaiyang banquets: cold dishes are not filler. Each has an assigned texture — the jellyfish is crisp, this salad is fresh and faintly sweet, the goose feet are wine-lees mellow and sticky, the trotter is set jelly. The 2018 group-standard report lists the cold dishes by name only and records no methods, so **this technique comes from a public home recipe and has no correspondence to the banquet's own kitchen method**; it is not a historical original. **The seat list records only the dish name, not the method; this version's technique comes from the public home recipe Two-shoot salad on xiachufang and has no correspondence to the actual three-head-banquet kitchen method.** It is not a historical original or a house secret. **Quantities, salting and sugar amounts and dressing ratios are editorial for 4 servings and have not been kitchen-tested.** 'Two shoots' is taken as celtuce plus bamboo shoot following that public recipe; the seat list does not specify the shoots, so pairing celtuce with bamboo shoot is an editorial choice, and spring bamboo shoot, water bamboo or winter shoot can be substituted. Use fresh shoots sold for cooking or properly canned boiled shoots, never raw shoots that need long simmering. The salting time targets crispness only and is not a safety judgement — rinse with potable water. Only the technique is taken; no therapeutic claims are adopted. Contains sesame (sesame oil), soy and wheat (light soy sauce). This version is vegan, with no animal fat or animal-derived ingredients; commercial dressing may contain lard or other animal-derived components, so check labels. Bamboo shoot and celtuce are not among the common allergens, though individual reactions do occur. Contains no meat. 下厨房（移动版）：凉拌双笋 — The method itself: peel the celtuce and cut into irregular chunks; the celtuce can be eaten raw, salted and sugared a spoon each and left to release water, which takes away part of its raw edge; boil the bamboo shoot through at the same time (fresh shoot until a chopstick slides in easily, or canned boiled shoot boiled twice in changed water to remove sourness); drain and cool the shoot, then cut into irregular chunks; rinse the celtuce in clean water to remove the salt and sugar and drain; combine both shoots in a large container, season with salt and sugar, and finish with a handful of chopped scallion. https://m.xiachufang.com/recipe/106741746/ 扬州晚报美食团：扬州发布“三头宴”团体标准（搜狐，2018-01-18） — Seat evidence: the eight cold starters are listed in order — scallion jellyfish, two-shoot salad, wine-marinated goose feet, scallion shrimp, ginkgo and mushrooms, Qinyou fuzi, crisp-braised crucian carp and jellied pork trotter — placing the two-shoot salad second. The report gives dish names and groupings only, with no methods. https://www.sohu.com/a/217424559_740963 淮扬菜 — 维基百科 — Cuisine context: Huaiyang cooking belongs to the Jiangsu school, its banquet section lists the three-head banquet, and the entry emphasises the school's knife work and natural flavour. https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%B7%AE%E6%89%AC%E8%8F%9C AI-generated illustration; not kitchen-tested.

Ingredients

  • celtuce, peeled and cut into irregular chunks400 g
  • fresh bamboo shoot, boiled through and cut into irregular chunks300 g
  • salt8 g
  • white sugar8 g
  • scallions, finely chopped20 g
  • sesame oil10 ml
  • light soy sauce, a little for savoury depth8 ml

Directions

  1. 1

    Peel the celtuce and cut away the tough outer ribs, then cut into irregular chunks about bite-sized — the angled cuts give more surface to catch the dressing and stay crisper than thin slices. Toss with about 4 g salt and 4 g sugar and leave 15–20 minutes until the celtuce softens and gives up water.

  2. 2

    While the celtuce salts, deal with the shoot: trim the fibrous root off the fresh bamboo shoot, bring a pan of water to the boil with a few slices of ginger, and simmer the shoot until a chopstick slides through with no resistance. Lift out and plunge into cold water to stop the cooking, then drain thoroughly. Cook it until the chopstick meets no resistance.

  3. 3

    Rinse the salted celtuce two or three times in potable water to wash out the drawn-out salt and sugar, then drain and taste a piece to check the seasoning. **Rinsing is not optional** — unrinsed, the salad will be too salty to taste the shoot's sweetness.

  4. 4

    Cut the cooled bamboo shoot into irregular chunks roughly matching the celtuce. Cut it cold: a hot shoot splits under the knife.

  5. 5

    Put both vegetables in a large bowl, scatter over the remaining salt and sugar, then pour in the light soy and sesame oil and fold up from the bottom so every piece is lightly coated. Taste: the target is fresh celtuce and a sweet bamboo shoot — a little more sugar can be added.

  6. 6

    Scatter over the chopped scallion and fold once more. Plate the salad in a low, flat mound so both vegetables stay visible rather than being mixed into an anonymous pile. Serve it close to the moment the guests sit down; held too long it waters down and slumps.

Source: WorldBite · public-reference adaptation · Source-attributed editorial adaptation; AI illustration; not an authenticated original recipe.