"The sweet, sour, salty and vinegary tastes of this salad are reminiscent of the Vietnamese ‘coleslaws’, which I adore. There is an absolute freshness and vibrancy to this salad that makes it delicious by itself, or with cooked prawns, cooked chicken or steamed fish fillets." - Kylie Kwong

DIRECTIONS

Using a vegetable peeler, finely slice cucumber and carrots lengthways into ribbons. Set cucumber aside and cut carrots into a fine julienne.

Combine carrots in a bowl with sugar and salt, mix well and leave to stand for 15 minutes.

Add celery to a small saucepan of boiling salted water and blanch for 30 seconds. Drain, refresh under cold water and drain again. Set aside.

Combine vinegar and extra sugar in a small heavy-based saucepan and stir over heat until sugar dissolves. Simmer, uncovered, for about 1 minute or until slightly reduced. Set aside to cool before stirring through pickled carrot.

In a bowl combine reserved cucumber, pickled carrot mixture, celery, cabbage, spring onion, bean sprouts and mint. Pour over combined soy sauce and lemon juice and mix well.

Arrange salad in a bowl, sprinkle with Sichuan pepper and salt (recipe below) and serve immediately.

Sichuan pepper and salt

Dry-roast peppercorns and salt in a heavy-based pan. When peppercorns begin to "pop" and become aromatic, take off the heat. Allow to cool, then grind to a powder in mortar and pestle or spice grinder (makes four tablespoons; store in an airtight container).

Extract from Simple Chinese Cooking by Kylie Kwong, published by Lantern Australia on 2 January 2014, RRP $49.99