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Stir-fried gai lanSERVES 2-4

“When you go to a Chinese restaurant and ask for greens, the

waiter often asks whether you’d like them stir-fried with garlic

or oyster sauce, or simply ‘clear’ fried, meaning finished with

stock,” says Tan. “Most Chinese diners ask for the green to be

cooked with oyster sauce like this stir-fried Chinese broccoli dish.

With its thick stems and glossy dark-green leaves Chinese broccoli

is a joy to eat. A Cantonese staple, this dish is a breeze to cook.”

2 tbsp vegetable oil

400 gm gai lan, trimmed and cut

into 8cm lengths (see note)

4 paper-thin slices ginger

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

1 tbsp Shaoxing rice wine

½ tsp caster sugar

2½ tbsp chicken stock

1 tbsp oyster sauce

1 tsp light soy sauce

½ tsp cornflour, mixed with

2 tbsp water

Pinch of ground

white pepper

1 Bring 1.5 litres water to the

boil in a wok. Add a pinch of

salt and 1 tbsp vegetable oil,

then the gai lan. Blanch for a

minute (see cook’s notes p176),

then tip into a colander and

refresh under cold running

water. Drain well.

2 Wipe out the wok with paper

towel, return to medium heat

and add the remaining oil,

ginger and garlic. Stir-fry until

fragrant (30 seconds), return the

gai lan to the wok, and stir-fry

for a further minute, then add

the Shaoxing rice wine, sugar,

stock, oyster sauce and soy

sauce. Bring to a simmer and,

when the sauce has reduced

slightly, stir in the cornflour

slurry and simmer to thicken.

Adjust the seasoning with salt

and white pepper and serve.

NoteChinese broccoli is sold

young and fresh in Hong Kong.

In the West it tends to be larger

and more fibrous with thicker

stems, which need to be peeled

before cooking.

This extract fromHong Kong

Food Cityby Tony Tan

(Murdoch Books, hbk, $49.99)

has been reproduced with

minorGT style changes.

122 GOURMET TRAVELLER