chinese-style greens?

[mig]

i LOVE "chinese broccoli" especially, but my heart belongs to all the chinese-style greens dishes i enjoy in nyc.

when i try to cook them myself, i try to get my wok REALLY hot, and i usually put in the"stem" pieces several minutes before the "leaf" pieces (in general, i do not blanch first.)

but the results inevitably disappoint.

i am interested in pointers on technique as well as flavoring. strident garlic flavor strongly preferred.

[Chris Amirault]

Here's the basic procedure I use.

Chop up 2-3 cloves of garlic and sauté them slowly in a T or two of chicken fat or peanut oil and a very big pinch of salt. Scoop out the garlic once it's started to brown, which should take a few minutes, and turn up your heat as high as it will go. When the fat is smoking, dump in your cleaned, dried greens and immediately start shaking, flipping, stirring -- keep it all moving.

Toss in a T or 2 of fatty chicken stock, the garlic and (if you'd like) a pinch of sugar, mix it up well, and plate it well before everything is cooked to your liking, as it will continue to cook in the serving dish.

With few exceptions, it should be the last thing you make before service. Never any sauces or soy to ruin the color and flavor. And never, ever blanch beforehand: if you have something thicker (small bok choy, say) you can cut them on the bias.

[Doodad]

I use mirin for a bit of flavor and sugar during cooking. Tiny bit of pepper too because I like my greens with a little spice ala Southern style.

[nickrey]

When you say REALLY hot, do you mean gas on wok burner on full, gas on normal burner on full, or electric on full?

What sort of wok do you have? Carbon steel seasoned with oil? Non-stick? Cast Iron?

Each of these will significantly affect the cooking method you use.

Please let us know so we can suggest the appropriate one for you.

[mig]

i am heartened that i apparently am not that far off the mark.

1. heavy nonstick wok, not electric

2. yes, very hot

3. already use a combo of peanut oil, garlic, mirin, salt and sugar, plus a pinch of red pepper flakes. However, I read a while ago to put the garlic in at the end, not the beginning - trying to create a sauce, not flavor the cooking oil. Maybe i need to revisit that.

4. good note about the soy sauce - certainly when i eat this dish in restaurants, there's none in there, so i don't know why i insisted on adding it during cooking.

Chris - do you put the stems and leaves in at the same time?

[nickrey]

In Terry Tan's excellent Asian Cook, he recommends your process of keeping the stems and leaves separate and cooking the former first for around two minutes on high heat before adding the leaves.

He recommends stir frying garlic and ginger first very briefly until light brown before adding the stems and then the greens. Keep the food moving continually.

The sauce is then added at the end (eg. 1 tbsp oyster sauce + scant 1/2 cup water).

Stir fry until the liquid comes to a rapid boil. Then serve.

In sum, stir fry the vegetables until cooked then add liquid for a rapid sauce making. Doing otherwise will braise the vegetables.

[Alcuin]

I like to add a couple ginger slices with the garlic. Sometimes I grate about a teaspoon of ginger too and squeeze its juice into the chicken stock before I put it the wok if I have time/inclination, but this is mainly for gai lan. For bok choy and similar greens I usually go for a full on fried garlic flavor.

[Ben Hong]

Other than a bit of garlic and a bit smashed fresh ginger, we normally would not add strong or peppery spices to a green veggie dish. Never red chiles. I am speaking about Cantonese cooking (restaurant style greens). Lord knows what those weird people in Szechuan and the dongbei do.

[mig]

i love a little bitter and spicy in my greens, though - i will eat the bitterest dandelion raw, any day of the week. ideally with added heat.

i guess that's why i put red pepper into my gai lan!

[Dejah]

I prefer to blanch gai lan whole with a pinch of baking soda to preserve the lovely green colour. The sauce is done separately in a wok - stir-fried slivers of ginger and garlic, add a dollop of oyster sauce, a pinch of sugar, and a bit of chicken stock. Once the gai lan is barely tender, I lift them out gently, lay them out on a plate, cut into desired lengths with scissors, and ladle the sauce over the greens. This has got to be my favourite vegetable.

[DeliciouslyLekker]

Hmm, I really had no idea greens were so difficult!

I usually just heat my wok til it's very hot, fry some minced garlic, add the greens ,add salt (if it's my parents eating it...) and it's pretty much done. Always has the "wok hei" taste