Copycat Chinese Vegetarian Salad

There was a local restaurant in the area called Dr. Deli and Salad Queen. This restaurant was always super busy and had the BEST salads. Sadly, a few years back, it closed down. Man, I have been missing their salads. One of their most famous salads was the Chinese Chicken Salad. I would always order the vegetarian version, which swapped out the chicken for cheese. Either way, same recipe- you can choose how you want to enjoy it.

The real challenge in recreating this recipe was nailing the dressing. After many tries, I think I got it pretty close. I don’t think it will ever be perfect without the exact recipe, but I got it close- I promise. I always used to mix this dressing with their ranch dressing- a little trick one of my friends introduced me to. The salad was served exactly as pictured with the dressing on the side.

UPDATE: The original owner of the Dr. Deli restaurant has kindly shared the actual recipe. I am so proud of myself with how close I came at recreating it being that I had nothing to go off of, but the recipe below has been updated. The recipe was given to me, and a bunch of foodie Facebook group members by, Joel Siegel. I did quarter the quantities as he provided enough dressing for an entire year.

So, people, here you have it. Let me know what you think because this salad had all of Thornhill gossiping for years!

Copycat Chinese Vegetarian Salad

Yield: 2-4 servings

INGREDIENTS:
1 head iceberg lettuce, chopped
2 large carrots, peeled and shredded
1/2 cup marble cheese, shredded
1 can mandarins
1/2 package vermicelli thin rice noodles
Vegetable oil, for frying noodles
Dressing:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/2 tbsp chicken soup powder
1 tbsp sesame oil
Pinch ground ginger
Pinch crushed red chili flakes

DIRECTIONS:
1. In a wok, or large pan, fill the entire bottom of the pan with a pool of oil. Bring the oil up to medium-high heat. To test oil, place the end of one of the rice noodles into the hot oil to see if it puffs up, when it does, the oil is ready. Meanwhile, using your hands, break up the rice noodles into smaller pieces over a large bowl. Working extremely quickly, place a handful of the rice noodles into the hot oil- it will only take a second to puff up. Using a slotted utensil, flip the noodles over for another second to puff up the second side. Remove noodles from oil and place onto a paper towel lined plate. Continue process until all your noodles are puffed. Let cool.
2. In a small bowl, whisk up the dressing ingredients. Set aside.
3. To assemble salad, place iceberg lettuce in the bottom of a bowl. Layer with carrots, cheese and rice noodles. Top with mandarins and serve with dressing on the side. Enjoy!

Notes:
* To make the chicken version, swap out the cheese for finely diced chicken.
** Best to make dressing in advance to merry the flavours.
***Recipe by original Dr. Deli owner, Joel Siegel.