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Prep Time10 minues
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Cook Time30 minutes
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Serving2
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I love this dish. Eating a bunch of fibrous green vegetables has got to be good for you. Yes, there’s some sugar and sodium in the sauce but not so much that it counteracts the healthy aspects of this dish. This is the kind of dish you might make when you want something relatively light but absolutely delicious. If you order this in a Chinese restaurant it might be one of two or three dishes you eat. But it is stellar on its own and if you’re doing a quick stir-fry at home, it is immensely satisfying. I had a glass of champagne with this and the apple-mineral crispness was a good foil to the thick glossy oyster sauce. An ice cold beer would have been good too. The sauce is key, of course. Use a premium bottled oyster sauce and adjust the sugar level to your taste buds. Before I put my wok in the sink to wash it, I dragged a spoon across its bottom and literally drank the remaining drops of sauce like it was soup. It was that good!
Ingredients
Gai Lan with Oyster Sauce
Directions
You can use broccolini instead of Gai Lan, and you can add scallions and bok choy to the vege mix also. In fact, you could add mushrooms, shrimp... this stir fry has endless possibilities.
Make the sauce by combining all liquid ingredients (oyster sauce, chicken stock, sherry, soy sauce) and stir in the sugar until it dissolves. At the last minute, add the cornstarch and stir again.
Steam the Gai Lan for about 8 to 10 minutes in a bamboo steamer. I did this by heating a few inches of water in my wok and setting the steamer inside the wok. You could also boil the vegetables for a few minutes in a pot. Gai Lan is very fibrous so it may need a little more pre-cooking than broccolini. Drain and set aside. Pour the water out of the wok if necessary.
When you are ready to eat, start the stir fry. Heat the wok over medium high heat and swirl the oil in the bottom of it and along the sides. Let the oil get really hot.
Add the minced ginger and garlic. It will cook fast so don't let it burn.
Add the green vegetables and stir and flip, stir and flip! Move it around a lot so that the garlic doesn't burn.
Add the sauce to the wok and let it thicken a bit. Turn down the heat if you aren't going to serve immediately. The sauce should be thick and glossy. You could serve this with rice but it is delicious on its own.
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