Many of our culinary specialists prepare Shanghai salad for the holidays. The juiciness and unusual taste of this dish won the hearts of the hostesses. Naturally, there were a variety of culinary fantasies on this subject. And every chef will fervently defend his recipe, considering it the only true one. In this article, we have compiled the most common versions for preparing the Shanghai salad. Including the recipe that the Chinese know under this name.
Historically correct Shanghai
Many culinary specialists will not believe it, but the real, original Shanghai salad is very reminiscent of our native Olivier (also known as “meat”, or “Russian” salad). Moreover, this dish is very popular among the Chinese who eat Western-style food. For the salad, two potatoes are cooked, together with a piece of sausage and half an apple, chopped into cubes, three tablespoons of green peas (canned or blanched fresh) are poured, and the Chinese Shanghai salad is poured with soy mayonnaise. As you can see, there are few differences from olivier: minus eggs and pickles, plus an apple, and mayonnaise changes to soy. Meanwhile, the Chinese are surprised when they try our, domestic Shanghai salad. They don’t cook like that.
Chicken "Shanghai"
Let's move on to the recipes that are implemented in our kitchens. The most popular Shanghai salad with chicken. It is done both in a puff version and in a mixed one. If you prefer layers - the first will be a boiled breast or fillet, cooled and diced. Marinade is poured from a can of canned pineapple, they are cut in proportion to chicken and go in a second layer. The third will be canned and strained corn, then - plates of canned champignons (about half of the can). It will also take olives, pitted, half a can. They are cut in circles and laid out with the last layer. All layers are spread over the course of laying out, the Shanghai salad (photo) is covered with a large plate or a deep lid and placed in a cool place for soaking. It should be served in portions, laid out on plates covered with leaves of Beijing cabbage, and decorated with olives, dill and mushrooms.
Prescription Tips
The most popular version of "Shanghai" has some variety in execution. First of all, it concerns refueling. There are three options:
- Plain mayonnaise. Acceptable, but experienced tasters say that the salad loses taste strongly.
- Mayonnaise mixed with lemon juice. Already better, but the dish still loses to what is cooked with the “right” dressing.
- A sauce made from a finely chopped bunch of dill, intervened in mayonnaise (five spoons), sour cream (three spoons) and mustard (three teaspoons).
Next is the layout. Shanghai salad with Beijing is quite full. You can replace it with lettuce leaves. If you cook it mixed rather than puff, cabbage / salad is cut in strips.
A hen. It is not necessary to cook the fillet - you can take smoked or bake in the oven your favorite parts of the bird. Smoked chicken is more juicy and aromatic, but also more nutritious and harmful.
"Shanghai" with nuts and cheese
Another variant of the same dish. Usually cooked not flaky. A pound of smoked or boiled-smoked chicken is cut into pieces. As many fresh champignons are finely chopped and fried with chopped onion until the juice ceases to stand out. A full glass of walnut kernels is crushed. Canned pineapples (jar) are cut smaller. A little less than 0.5 kilograms of cheese (recommended by the Maasdam) is rubbed. All products are mixed, canned corn is added to them . Salt is not added - enough of what is in cheese and chicken. How to fill Shanghai salad, we described above, choose a fill to your taste.
"Shanghai" with pork
Lovers of this tender meat can well cook Shanghai salad with it. The recipe is quite different from chicken. For starters, a pound of pork is cut into slices of the size that is suitable for the salad. Pieces are sprinkled with chopped basil and onion, seasoned with spices and salt, watered with lemon juice. In a sealed container, the meat should stand for three hours. Then it is wrung out from the marinade, the onion is peeled from it, and the pork is fried. Five tomatoes, two cucumbers, another onion, lettuce and two multi-colored bell peppers are cut in parallel. All components are laid out in a salad bowl. This time, the Shanghai salad is seasoned with vegetable oil. It remains to sprinkle with fresh herbs - and you can eat.
"Shanghai" with noodles
Maybe this dish is called differently in China, but in our country it is known as the Shanghai-2 salad. For him, 100 grams of glass noodles is prepared according to the instructions, after which it is cut to be shorter. A quarter kilogram of pork tenderloin is cut into beef stroganoff, sprinkled with pepper, curry, salt and flour (a little) and fried. Canned soybean sprouts, peas, tangerine slices and bamboo shoots are filtered off from the liquid - just buy in a jar. Bamboo will have to be cut into strips, the rest is up to you. Both sprouts, and segments can be put into business entirely. All prepared foods are mixed. For dressing are combined: a spoonful of ginger, four - tangerine marinade, two each - vegetable oil, curry, soy sauce and vinegar, and three - pure water. Shanghai Salad (recipe with photo) is seasoned with the mixture and after soaking it is eaten instantly. Despite the abundance of components of the apparent bulkiness of the recipe, it is prepared quickly, since most components do not need to be processed. The main thing is to find exotic items in the supermarket like soybean sprouts and bamboo shoots.
Beef "Shanghai"
For its embodiment, it is desirable to have a wok pan or deep fryer, since the intermediate processing of some of the components included in the Shanghai salad with beef requires very quick frying. That is, a crispy outer crust should form, and the “insides” remain soft and juicy. A pound of beef, two hundred grams of potatoes and fresh cucumbers are cut in approximately the same straw. First, the meat is fried. When the “tan” on it becomes pronounced, it sticks and peppers, a little soy sauce is poured into the pan, and the beef is stewed almost until ready. About seven minutes before taking it out, potato straws are poured, and fried with continuous stirring. The last cucumbers are added to the cauldron - literally for a couple of minutes. The contents of the pan are transferred to the salad bowl, strips of two multi-colored bell peppers are added there, the Shanghai salad is poured with mayonnaise and put on the table. You can eat it both warm and cold - delicious in both forms. Only if you serve it hot, refrain from flavoring mayonnaise, it is better to pour salad juice with meat and vegetables.