Asian (Chinese) Tabbouleh

Submitted by Holli Hollister

"Tabbouleh was introduced to me by my best friend in the 70's and I loved it. However, I decided to give it my own twist, so I made an Asian style Tabbouleh which I love even more. You can serve this as a side dish in place of a salad or roll several tbsp in Napa cabbage leaves to serve along with your favorite Asian main dish. Yum, scrumptious! By most standards this would not be considered tabbouleh because it does not include mint but I believe we can make tabbouleh using any of the ingredients we prefer."

 

• Ready In: 30mins
• Ingredients: 13
• Serves: 4-6

ingredients

• 1 cup Bulgar wheat
• 2 cups boiling water
• 1 (8 ounce) can water chestnuts, chopped
• 1 (16 ounce) can bean sprouts, drained
• 1 (4 1/2 ounce) can sliced mushrooms, drained
• 8 green onions, chopped
• 1 large carrot, grated
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 2 tablespoons fresh gingerroot, grated
• 4 tablespoons soy sauce, natural
• 4 tablespoons sesame oil, roasted
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• napa cabbage leaf (Chinese) (optional)

directions

1. Rinse bulgar wheat several times, then pour boiling water over it, stir and put in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. The bulgar will soak up most of the water after 30 minutes but if it doesn't, drain it to make sure there is no longer any water present.
2. Add all of the other ingredients into the soaked bulgar wheat.
3. Put the tabbouleh into the refrigerator for an hour or so tossing every now and then.
4. Serve in place of a salad or use to make Asian (Chinese) tabbouleh cabbage rolls (no frying or cooking) in place of egg rolls.
5. As always, if you prefer fresh mushrooms or fresh bean sprouts (mung) please use those.

Reviews

[lecole54]

What a tasty synthesis of Middle Eastern and Asian! I accidentally grabbed a can of bamboo shoots rather than water chestnuts at the supermarket, but it was a perfectly acceptable substitute I think, although not quite as much crunch. Served it on a steamy hot evening accompanied by cups of gazpacho, just to extend the cultural world tour. Delicious! (Addendum: tried it a second time with the water chestnuts; although we liked the crunch, we liked the *taste* of the bamboo shoots better!)