Fresh Walnut & Spinach Salad
鲜核桃菠菜
English: Fresh Walnut & Spinach Salad
Chinese: 鲜核桃菠菜
Pinyin： xian hetao bocai
Literal: Fresh walnuts and spinach
The season for fresh walnuts is fleeting — late summer into early autumn — a brief window that food lovers in Northern China wait for all year. Once prepared, the nuts are creamy and softly crisp, with a whisper of the familiar dried walnut beneath their tender, milky surface.
You’re more likely to encounter fresh walnuts in restaurants than at home. And once you’ve prepared them yourself, you’ll understand why (and never forget it). Getting to the heart of a fresh walnut takes the patience of a Buddhist monk and a good pair of gloves - the green husks stain your fingers black. Then comes the cracking, and finally the slow, careful peeling of the skin to reveal the ivory meat within. It’s maddening work, the kind that humbles anyone who thinks they’re an expert in the kitchen. After your fifth walnut, time seems to slow; after your fiftieth, you probably start to question your life choices. I’ve never made it that far, usually giving up, and decided a bit of skin here and there is fine.
The Northern provinces grow China’s finest walnuts, with Zanhuang county in Hebei famed as the ‘hometown of Chinese walnuts’ for its thin-shelled, plump varieties. My own came from Shaanxi this year - a little farther afield, but no less beautiful, their freshness evident the moment you taste them.
Dishes with fresh walnuts are best kept simple. This cold salad is a celebration of that purity: creamy walnuts and earthy spinach bound by a sharp, punchy dressing. It’s reminiscent of the classic Peanut and Spinach Salad but without the dried chillies, which would drown out the walnuts’ soft sweetness.
Serves 3-4
Ingredients
1 cup of fresh walnuts (80-90g) - shelled and peeled.
250g spinach
For the dressing
2-3 garlic cloves - finely chopped
1 ½ tablespoons light soy sauce
1 tablespoon Chinese black vinegar
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon sugar
Method
Note: You could use dried walnuts. It will be a different dish, but equally delicious - just fry the walnuts in two tablespoons of oil and a sprinkle of salt, over a low heat for 4-5 minutes, until they’re a lovely rich colour.
Prepare the walnuts. I highly suggest you try to find prepped walnuts, or at least husked. However, if husking - wear gloves as you peel the husks off, then use a nutcracker or hammer to break the shell. Remove the meat and then peel off the thin, bitter brown skin that covers each walnut. The best way is to use a pair of tweezers or a thick needle. Be warned, this will take forever. Once complete, set the walnuts aside.
Wash the spinach thoroughly to remove any grit. Add the still-wet spinach to a pan, cover and heat over a medium heat until the spinach wilts. Immediately remove the spinach and plunge it into a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking and preserve the colour and texture.
Mix the dressing. In a small bowl, mix all the dressing ingredients and stir until the sugar and salt dissolve.
Remove the spinach from the water, squeeze the spinach, removing most of the water (a bit is fine), and then roughly chop the spinach. Add to a mixing bowl with the walnuts then drizzle the dressing over the top. Mix together then transfer to your serving plate.
