05/19/2026
Cantonese Broccoli Salad with Black Rice
My latest CSA box from Feast Down East contained a lot of broccoli this week, and I still had some frozen from the week before. How could I use it all up with the least heat and mess? A broccoli salad seemed like a good solution, but most recipes call for mayo, nuts and dried cranberries — not what I had in mind. Besides, I had used the last of the mayo the day before.
Recipes like that don't call back to how I like broccoli best: either roasted, or as a side at a Chinese restaurant with black bean or oyster sauce. The second idea had potential, but I didn't have fermented black beans or oyster sauce in the house either. I needed some ideas.
From a pile of books on the coffee table, I pulled out a recent purchase, Salt Sugar MSG, a new cookbook from Calvin Eng, who owns an American-Cantonese restaurant in Williamsburg, N.Y., named after his mother, Bonnie. In the front of the book, he lays out the building blocks of Cantonese cuisine with recipes for chicken stock, XO sauce and flavored oils and soy sauce. I would use these as the blueprint for a vinaigrette.
In a small pot over low heat, I combined vegetable oil with what I had on hand: ginger, a clove of garlic, a chili pepper, scallions, a bay leaf and five-spice seasoning. After 15 minutes, I poured it into a jar with soy sauce, sesame oil, Sichuan peppercorns, toasted sesame seeds, sugar, MSG and rice wine vinegar.
I cut the florets from the raw broccoli and set the stems aside. The florets went through the food processor with the slice blade; the stems went through with the grater blade. I tossed the broccoli in a bowl with black rice — cooked in the pressure cooker — and just enough vinaigrette to lightly coat everything.
Now I had a salad with contrasting colors, crunchy broccoli and tender rice that stretched the dish further — and the flavor callback to Chinese restaurant broccoli I was after.
What would I do next time? Use less vinaigrette. Pick up some star anise. Add chopped peanuts — I always have pecans in the freezer, but peanuts would be better here. Fold in some scallions and use more as a garnish. Maybe sliced radishes for color and crunch.
A shredded veg, rice and vinaigrette. What do you have in the house to make this?
