Lao Cu Huasheng, Aged Vinegar Peanuts
Lao cu huasheng, old-vinegar peanuts, is one of the small cold plates that open a Chinese meal while the kitchen finishes the hot dishes. The classic is deep-fried peanuts tumbled with raw vegetables in a sweet-sour soy dressing. The peanuts here are dry-roasted instead, which gives the same brittle snap without a drop of oil, and aged black vinegar with a single mashed date replaces the sugar and soy. Keep the roasted peanuts and the dressed vegetables apart until you serve, since the whole appeal is peanuts that still crackle against the soft, tangy vegetables around them.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups Peanuts, raw, skin on
- 2 stalks Celery, cut into small dice
- 1 medium Carrots, cut into small dice
- 1/4 medium Red onions, cut into small dice
- 1/4 cup Cilantro, chopped
- 3 tbsp Chinese black vinegar
- 1 tbsp unseasoned rice vinegar
- 1 piece Deglet noor dates, pitted, mashed with 1 tbsp (15 ml) hot water into a paste
- 1/4 tsp Red pepper flakes
Method
- Spread the raw peanuts on a sheet pan and roast at 300F (150C) for 15 to 18 minutes, shaking once, until they smell nutty and a split kernel is pale gold inside. Roasting dry, then cooling them completely, is how you get the crackle that this dish is fried for elsewhere, with none of the oil.
- Blanch the diced carrot for 30 seconds and drain, but leave the celery and onion raw. A quick dip softens the carrot's raw edge while the celery and onion stay crisp, which is the contrast the salad is built on.
- Whisk the black vinegar, rice vinegar, date paste, and pepper flakes together. Aged black vinegar is mellow and faintly sweet on its own, and the mashed date rounds it further so the dressing needs no sugar and no soy.
- Toss the vegetables and cilantro with the dressing, and fold in the cooled peanuts only at the moment of serving. Vinegar softens peanuts fast, so keep them separate until the last minute or the crunch is gone by the time it reaches the table.
Nutrition
Estimated per serving: 210 calories, 9 g protein, 4 g fiber, 30 mg sodium. Computed from USDA FoodData Central reference values for the main ingredients. This is an approximation, not a laboratory measurement. How these are computed.
Cost per serving is estimated from US national-average retail prices for cheap staple forms, using BLS dried-bean prices and USDA produce prices. Prices vary by store and season, so treat it as a guide, not a receipt. How this is computed.
