A simple yet scrumptious spring salad that is wonderfully flavorful, rich in nutrition, low in calories, and takes less than 30 minutes to get ready.
This asparagus salad with mushrooms, eggs, and glass noodles is a great new way to enjoy bright spring flavors.
The crunchy texture of the asparagus, the earthy umani of the mushrooms, the tender mouthfeel of the noodles, and the rich flavor of the scrambled eggs – all come together to create a perfect combination. The flavor of the fresh ingredients is enhanced by a bit of soy sauce and a few drops of sesame oil. A taste of spring.
I first had this salad in a Yunnan restaurant and was surprised by its great flavor (I will talk more about Yunnan food in a separate post). Although the seasoning here is not quite typical Yunnan, the use of mushrooms and asparagus is a common practice in Yunnan cuisine, and it works like magic in this dish.
I thought about recreating this dish at home several times, but was reluctant to try it.
Reason one: I couldn’t find a single recipe for this dish online. This is one of a kind. No reference at all. I was on my own to figure out the recipe.
Second, the seasoning of the salad was so simple and I couldn’t figure out what made it stand out. No matter how hard I thought about the taste of the original salad, I only remembered a very simple, yet great, savory flavor that made me think of chicken soup.
The truth is, after I got all the veggies and eggs cooked and ready, I still had no recipe written down.
So I decided to go with my gut.
Since I couldn’t recall any special flavors in the dish, I started with a pinch of salt and several drops of soy sauce (the salad in the restaurant looked clean and fresh, which meant no seasoning with any special color). Then I finished it up with a few drops of sesame oil. Soy sauce and sesame oil are the typical way to enhance the flavor of a salad in Chinese cooking. My backup plan was, if this seasoning didn’t work, I would blend in chicken bouillon powder (a.k.a MSG).
The result surprised me.
The salad tasted just as awesome as I remembered. All the ingredients came together to create such a rich flavor, like drinking a bowl of slowly cooked chicken soup, with extra goodies in the bowl.
The glass noodles were soaked with savory and nutty flavors. Their texture became silky with the addition of the sesame oil. The mushrooms and asparagus didn’t absorb so much seasoning, so you could taste their natural refreshing and earthy flavor, as they should be. The eggs just made everything taste better, as they always do. And the truth is, the scrambled eggs infused the salad with a great chicken broth aroma.
This is the type of dish that you won’t want to change a single item in, but rather just leave the ingredients as they are, to work their magic.
Did I convince you of the great flavor of this salad? Take 30 minutes to put these ingredients together, and you can easily convince yourself!
Asparagus Salad with Mushroom, Eggs, and Glass Noodles
Ingredients
- 1/2 25 grams bundle bean thread noodles
- 2 cups 120 grams white enoki (or white beech) mushrooms, tough ends removed and separated
- 10 200 grams asparagus spears, tough ends removed and chopped
- 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
- 2 eggs beaten
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon light soy sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
Instructions
- Prepare a bowl of tap water and set aside. Bring a pot of water to a boil.
- (Optional) Add a few drops of oil and a pinch of salt, so the veggies will be greener after cooking.
- Add bean thread noodles and stir with chopsticks to separate them. Boil until the noodles are cooked through, about 1 minute. Transfer the noodles to the bowl of water to chill. Set aside. (*see footnote 1)
- Add mushrooms to the same pot of water. Cook until mushrooms turn tender, about 1 minute. Transfer to a colander to cool.
- Add asparagus to the same pot of water. Cook until the asparagus is cooked but still crisp, 30 seconds to 1 minute (you might need longer time if the asparagus is bigger). Transfer to a colander to cool.
- Heat oil in a nonstick skillet over medium high heat until warm. Add egg. Stir and cook until egg is just cooked through. Transfer to a plate to cool.
- Transfer the bean thread noodles to a colander to drain.
- Combine asparagus, mushroom, bean thread noodles, and egg in a large bowl. Sprinkle salt and drizzle with light soy sauce and sesame oil. Toss to mix well.
- Serve warm or cold.
Notes
The nutrition facts are calculated based on 1 of the 2 servings generated by this recipe.
I’d have to substitute wood ear mushrooms – they are the only fungus I can eat. But I reckon it would work. Lovely fresh spring time flavours and colours in this salad.
I love the subtle earthy flavors in this dish! And such easy prep as well! I know you said this is a salad, but I love it as breakfast too 🙂
You always know how to make me drool, don’t you. 😉 This looks like a big bowl of spring goodness…
Seeing this recipe and hearing you talk about Yunnan food makes me want to go back and visit again! Yes, sesame oil works wonders in salads!
This my kind of dish. It has a bit of everything I like and it’s healthy too. Lovely recipe.
I’ve been all obsessed with asparagus lately! This salad looks awesome! When making salads, I pretty much never have a plan, like to come up with ideas at the last minute 🙂
Maggie, you are going miss the incredible food you get in China!! You’ll start posting tacos and brisket before you know it 😉 This looks fantastic and yes, though the dressing is simple, I think because you added sesame oil that’s made all the difference.
I love this salad. Totally “my kind”. 🙂
I know I will! I’m already on the track and won’t be back… Because, tacos recipe is ready and will on the blog soon!
Hello Maggie, this dish is so fresh and a snap to put together. I am so glad to see that you have been eating among all of this excitement that has been happening in your life. Take good care of yourself. Just pinned!
Just made it tonight! The flavor is quite good, but some of the asparagus pieces are really tough. This is my first time ever cooking it and afterwards I looked up some websites that advised breaking the tough ends off. I might also boil for an extra minute next time. Otherwise, I prepared this dish just like the recipe with a bit more salt.
By the way, I also cooked the broccoli recipe a week ago and it was great, though I had to add some extra salt.
Hi Luke, I’m glad to hear you tried the recipe!
Sorry, I forgot to mention about removing the tough ends of asparagus! I just updated the recipe. I boiled the asparagus for very short time, because the ones I got is so fresh and very slim. I just added a sentence in the recipe, to note about longer cooking time.
For the salt in the recipe, it’s always a dilemma for me. Personally I prefer adding more salt. But my parents prefer using less salt if possible. Also the brand of soy sauce you use might affect the saltiness too. Anyhow, I will remember to mention adjusting the salt in my future recipes.
Thanks for letting me know these! Enjoy the rest of your weekend 🙂
This is simple yet looks so delicious! Love that fried eggs and noodles are in there. Beautifully photographed too!
Looks super delicious, and simple too! I love glass noodles– this would make a perfect meal for 1 when my husband is out of town 🙂 Which is ALL the time lately. And I just bought asparagus 🙂 Love your simple way of flavoring the noodles– I am never sure quite what to do to add flavor to them. I always have sesame oil– such amazing flavor.
I’m so glad you made this! It’s already getting cold and I really needed something to bring back a little summer ^^ it’s totally delicious and I love it ?
This is sooo good, I crave it whenever I see green asparagus and I have made it many times already, thank you for sharing!!
Hi! Making this tonight. So 25g of bean thread noodles? That doesn’t seem like very much.
I just really enjoy cooking from your recipes.
Thank you
Hi Sarah, the thin noodles are quite light and they do expand a lot after rehydration. I only used a little to add texture to the dish. If you want to add more noodles you will need to add a bit more soy sauce and sesame oil to balance it out.
Simple ingredients yet very tasty. I really like it. And it is nice that it is simple to make