I love Chinese greens, and here are two recipes that don’t use many ingredients, are bullet-proof, and delicious.
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Chinese Broccoli with Oyster Sauce
It’s my favorite Chinese green, the stems having a taste (to me) of broccoli with a bit of asparagus, and the leaves tasting like spinach. Usually I just stir-fry it with a bit of garlic and salt, but this recipe adds a very mild sauce that doesn’t covcer up the broccoli’s goodness.
I usually buy the “tips” because they don’t have the woody bits at the bottom, but they’re a bit pricey, $2.69/lb. the last time I went shopping:
Sometimes they are in flower, which is fine, as the flowers are edible too.
Ingredients:
- 10 oz. Chinese broccoli (gai-lan)
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. baking soda (not needed for flavor, but it keeps the greens a nice bright color during blanching)
- A 1/2″ slice of ginger, crushed (the original recipe calls for this, but I can’t imagine it actually has any effect on the flavor)
- 3 Tbsp. chicken stock (substitute: water)
- 2 Tbsp. oyster sauce
- 1 Tbsp. Xiaoshing or other Chinese rice wine (substitute: dry sherry)
- 1/2 tsp. sugar
Method:
Add the salt, baking soda and ginger to a large pot of water, and start bringing it to the boil.
Chop the broccoli into roughly 2″ pieces:
When the water boils, add the greens and blanch for 3-4 minutes, or until desired doneness:
Meanwhile, make the sauce: combine the chicken broth, oyster sauce, rice wine, and sugar in a small saucepan. Bring to the boil, then turn the heat off:
Drain the greens and remove the ginger. Place into a bowl and add a bit of sauce (I added some grated ginger just for fun!)
Yum!
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This is another simple but delicious recipe. The recipe calls for 1-1/4 lb. Napa aka Chinese cabbage (suey choy), but my local market only sells the Big Boys:
Not a problem, since it keeps well in the fridge for at least a month.
Ingredients:
- 1-1/4 lbs. Napa cabbage
- 2 Chinese pork sausages, sliced. These come in variety of flavors, from mild and sweet to strong and hot, and there’s no way of know ahead of time. I bought these, which were on the mild/sweet side:
- 2-3 scallions, sliced crosswise into 1″ pieces
- 1/4 C. chicken stock
- 1 tsp. (or to taste) chili bean sauce (doubanjiang/to ban jiang). I used my homemade, which is quite mild, so I used 2 Tbsp.:
- 1/2 tsp. sugar
- 2 tsp. cornstarch
- 4 tsp. water
- 2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- (optional) 1 Tbsp. Xiaoshing or other rice wine (substitute: dry sherry)
Method:
Remove enough leaves from the cabbage to make up 1-1/4 lbs. (you may have to chop a bit crosswise through the bottom.) Stack up three or four leaves, cut down the middle lengthwise, then crosswise in 1-1/2″ pieces:
Make the sauce: mix the chicken broth, chili bean sauce and sugar in a small bowl:
Stir together the cornstarch and water in another small bowl:
Heat the oil in a large skillet or wok. When it’s hot, add the garlic, the white part of the scallions, and the sliced sausage, and stir-fry for two minutes:
Now add the cabbage. Sprinkle over the rice wine. If there’s too much to fit in the pan, just stir it a bit, and as the cabbage shrinks, add the rest of it. Stir-fry until the leaves start to turn dark green, or until of desired doneness:
Stir the bowl of sauce, add, turn the heat to low, and continue to cook for another 1-1/2 minutes.
Stir the bowl of cornstarch. Add about 1/2, then stir for 30 seconds. If you want the sauce thicker, keep adding a bit more of the cornstarch mixture and stirring for 30 seconds until you like it:
Enjoy!
-R