Chinese Broccoli With Oyster Sauce And Fried Garlic Recipe

Why It Works

• Chinese broccoli is more bitter than Western broccoli, which helps it stand up to the bold, sweet, and savory flavors of oyster sauce and fried garlic.
• We fry the garlic ourselves, then use the flavorful oil to enhance the oyster sauce; it ties the dish together perfectly.

Growing up, not having a plate of Chinese greens on the table for dinner was like not having rice—it was simply unthinkable. Quick to cook, simple and delicious, Chinese greens are a great way to add a vegetable dish to your meal.

Also known as gai lan, Chinese broccoli is a dark green vegetable with thick stalks, large flat leaves, and tiny flower buds. It has a slightly bitter flavor, though not as bitter as broccoli rabe. Still, its flavor is robust enough that it does great with other bold flavors, like garlic and oyster sauce. In this preparation, we're using both.

When selecting Chinese broccoli, look for bright green crisp leaves that are bruise free and have no yellow spots. The tiny flower buds should be tight and compact. Also check the ends of the stalks and make sure they are not dry or crusted. For choy sum, select ones with small tender stalks.

I start by blanching my broccoli in boiling water, cooking it until it's just past the al dente stage.

Careful drainage is absolutely essential here—any excess water clinging to the broccoli will only serve to water down the flavor of the sauce. You can wring them dry over the pot, or turn them through a salad spinner to get rid of all traces of excess moisture.

Pungent and flavorful, oyster sauce is essential in Chinese cooking, especially in the Cantonese kitchen. It's sweet, salty, earthy, and rich, and is usually used in stir-fry dishes, braises, or drizzled on top of noodles and vegetables. By itself, oyster sauce is very pungent, so it's rarely used as a dipping sauce.

There are a few ways to make this classic Cantonese dish. Some recipes call for the broccoli to be stir-fried with the oyster sauce, while others suggest drizzling oyster sauce straight out of the bottle on top of blanched greens. I like to keep it simple by thinning out the oyster sauce with a mixture of soy sauce, garlic oil (that I've saved from frying garlic, more on that in a second), and a little bit of hot water.

For added flavor and texture, I like to sprinkle a little fried garlic on top, made by slow-cooking chopped garlic in oil until crisp and golden brown.

The finished dish is as flavorful as it is simple; the kind of side dish that should make it into your regular rotation.

April 2014