Once upon a wok, if you wanted to cook a fabulous Chinese vegetable dish then you’d need to haul yourself down to your local Chinatown to find the ingredients. But since the rise in popularity of Chinese cooking, major supermarkets now stock most of what’s required, including beautiful leafy Asian vegetables. Choi sum is one of my favourites. The colour alone is delicious enough to make your eyes water with its emerald gleam. The thick, crunchy stalks are packed with flavour and the leaves boast enough health-giving properties to make a jar of vitamins blush. The simplicity of this dish is its virtue – toss the choi sum around a wok with some basic Chinese seasoning and you are left with a health-conscious and very tasty dish … yum!
Servings 4 people
Equipment
- wok
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp groundnut oil
- 2 cloves of garlic peeled and finely sliced
- 300 g choi sum or pak choi washed and cut to fit your wok
- 100 ml water
- 2 tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 tsp light soy sauce
- 1 –2 teaspoons fish sauce
Instructions
- Heat the groundnut oil in a wok over a high heat. Once hot, add the garlic and stir-fry for 30 seconds.
- Add the choi sum and stir-fry for 2 minutes until the leaves begin to wilt. Pour in the water, being careful about spitting oil. Bring the water to the boil and cook on a high heat for a further 2 minutes, turning the choi sum a couple of times to ensure it’s cooked evenly. Using a large pan lid will help with this.
- Reduce the heat to medium and remove the choi sum to a serving plate, leaving as much of the residual liquid in the wok as possible. Quickly add the remaining ingredients, stirring well to incorporate, and turn the heat up to maximum, bringing the liquid to the boil.
- Pour the hot sauce over the cooked choi sum and serve immediately as part of a larger meal.
Notes
Original recipe found in Gok Cooks Chinese