Chinese Coleslaw Salad
Chinese Coleslaw Salad, full of crunchy vegetables, is the perfect accompaniment to many East Asian-inspired dishes.
You won’t find the rich, creamy dressing of traditional European coleslaws here. Instead, shredded cabbage, carrot, cucumber and onion has a lightly sweet but refreshing and tangy dressing inspired by the flavours of China.
Jump to Recipe
I’ll say at the outset that I make no claims of authenticity for my Chinese Coleslaw Salad.
It just seems the best way to describe a dish of shredded raw vegetables dressed with soy sauce, Shaoxing Chinese rice wine, rice vinegar and a few other goodies.
It was only recently I learned that coleslaw comes from the Dutch koolsla which means cabbage salad. From that comes the multitude of coleslaws (or just ‘slaws’) we see today.
Personally, I love raw cabbage salads.
In fact, I’ve already posted three slaw recipes: Vegetable Slaw with Orange, Honey & Mustard Dressing, Tangy Vegetable & Apple Coleslaw and Tahini Miso Vegetable Slaw with Crispy Chickpeas.
Like those, my Chinese Coleslaw Salad is:
- Quick to make, involving no actual cooking
- Full of healthy, crunchy raw vegetables
- Works as a side with a variety of dishes
- Tastes great!
CHINESE COLESLAW SALAD
Also like most coleslaws, you can change which vegetables to include. However, as explained above, to be called a coleslaw the salad should really include cabbage.
My preference is for red or white cabbage as they stay good and crunchy once the dressing’s added. But you could use other types of cabbage, including Chinese cabbage of course.
Besides the finely shredded cabbage, the other constants in my Chinese Coleslaw Salad are carrot, cucumber, thinly sliced red onion and roughly chopped coriander leaf.
I use a julienne peeler to cut long thin strips of carrot and cucumber. You could use a spiralizer instead, or simply cut into thin matchsticks. At a pinch, you could grate the carrot (not the cucumber though: it becomes too wet). But I don’t think the texture is as nice.
THE DRESSING
Until the coleslaw is tossed in the Chinese-inspired dressing, this could be any old coleslaw.
But with light and dark soy sauces, rice vinegar, Shaoxing rice wine and sesame oil, all lightly sweetened with brown sugar, I think the dressing is what makes the salad.
The amounts shown in the recipe make a dressing that has the balance of sweet, tangy and salty that’s right for my taste. But feel free to tweak until it seems good to you.
I include finely chopped garlic, which you can leave out if you don’t like it raw. The soy sauces I use aren’t especially salty, so I sometimes add a tiny pinch of salt.
SERVING
Once your veg is prepped and the dressing either whisked together or shaken up in a jar, all you do is toss them together.
I recommend you don’t do this until ready to serve so that everything is as crunchy as possible when you eat the salad.
As a final flourish, I like a sprinkle of toasted black and white sesame seeds.
When it’s served on the plates or in the bowls, I add thinly sliced spring onion for more fresh crunch.
I love Chinese Coleslaw Salad to add healthy vegetables, satisfying crunch, beautiful colour and harmonious flavour to an endless number of East Asian inspired dishes. Try it as a side with meat, fish, chicken, noodles, or even on a burger or in sandwiches.
We ate the coleslaw I made for this post with Chinese pulled pork, crispy pork skin and coconut rice. I thought the fresh, tangy salad with its slightly sweet edge a great contrast to the rich flavours in the bowl.
So quick and easy to make, once you’ve tried it, I think Chinese Coleslaw Salad will appear on your table as often as it does on mine.
Have you made this recipe?
Leave a comment below and don’t forget to rate it.
Chinese Coleslaw Salad
Crunchy shredded vegetables in a lightly sweet, refreshing and tangy dressing inspired by the flavours of China.
Ingredients
Dressing
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 tbsp Chinese cooking rice wine e.g. Shaohsing/Shaoxing
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 2 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp dark soy sauce
- 1 clove garlic finely chopped
- salt optional
Salad
- ¼ - ⅓ medium red cabbage thinly shredded
- ⅓ - ½ medium cucumber julienned or cut into matchsticks
- 1 large carrot julienned or cut into matchsticks
- 1 small red onion halved then thinly sliced
- 1 small bunch coriander roughly chopped
- 2 spring onions trimmed, thinly sliced
- 1 tbsp sesame seeds, black and white if possible toasted
Instructions
Make the dressing
-
Put all the ingredients except the salt in a bowl or screw-topped jar.
Whisk or shake together to combine.
Taste and add salt if needed.
Make the salad
-
Toss together in a bowl all the ingredients except the spring onions and sesame seeds.
Serve
-
Just before serving, pour the dressing over the salad and toss well to combine.
Serve immediately, sprinkled with the sliced spring onions and toasted sesame seeds.
Recipe Notes
Both the salad and dressing can be made a few hours in advance if kept covered, but only toss together just before serving to the vegetables crunchy.