Quick, simple recipes like this are the ultimate unsung heroes of Chinese home cooking!
Stir-fried choy sum is delicious, it's nutritious, and it comes together in a flash. The quick cooking time means that yes, you can throw it onto the dinner table in just a few minutes, but it also means that your greens stay bright, tender, and sweet.
Check out a quick story summary of our recipe!
Main Ingredients
to taste
)Seasonings
This beautifully leafy green is available at all Chinese supermarkets year-round, and if you have a local Asian community, you might find it at your local farmer's market too. Sometimes, it's alternatively labeled 油菜 "yu choy".
The flavor is sweet and delicate, and the texture is similar to bok choy, lighter than other heartier vegetables.
Its appearance is a bit similar to gai lan. How do you differentiate between them? Choy sum is a lighter, brighter green compared to gai lan's dark, almost blue-green leaves.
The stems are quite different as well; choy sum stems are curved and rather flexible, while gai lan stems are round and dense, like broccoli.
Stir-fries that involve heartier vegetables often call for blanching as a pre-cooking stage. Blanching a hearty vegetable ensures that it's tender enough for a pleasant eating experience.
Choy sum, however, is tender enough to stir-fry straight from raw (after washing and trimming, of course). In Cantonese cooking, this is called 生炒 (saang1 caau2). No pre-cooking necessary!
To prepare the choy sum (1 lb), you want to separate the quick-to-cook leaves and the slower-to-cook stems.
You can either make one horizontal chop to separate the leaves and stems of each plant all at once, or you can cut apart the stems (at an angle for extra style points) and then chop away the leaves to separate.
Slice the garlic. For maximum visual appeal, leave some of them sliced (2 cloves) and mince the rest (3 cloves).
Cut the ginger ( small amount) into roughly 1/8 slices. In our video, we used about 4 slices of ginger for 1 lb of choy sum.
Heat your wok over high heat for a quick minute. Add a dash of oil (1 tbsp), then turn the heat to medium low. Lowering the heat here is important to avoid burning the aromatics.
Add the ginger and garlic. Stir-fry for 15 seconds so that you can smell the ginger and garlic releasing their aromas.
Add the stems first, since they'll take longer to cook through. Stir-fry the stems for about 30 seconds.
Then, add the leaves.
Raise the heat to high and add cooking wine (1 tsp) and sugar (1 tsp) to balance the texture of the leaves; these ingredients help make the dish silky smooth. Mix the seasonings in and stir-fry for another 30 seconds.
DON'T ADD THE SALT YET! If you add salt now, all the water in the vegetables will release (thank you, osmosis) and you'll end up with less tender vegetables in a puddle of juice.
Lower the heat to medium or low heat. Cover with the lid and let it steam for about 1.5-2 minutes, or until the choy sum is tender and just cooked through.
Uncover the wok and bring the heat up to the highest setting. Stir-fry on high heat for a minute, then add salt (0.50 tsp).
Drizzle finishing oil (1 tbsp) over the top for a smooth texture, a glossy look, and to help preserve that vibrant green color.
Toss the finishing oil in for another 20 seconds, and then plate. Enjoy!
Main Ingredients
to taste
)Seasonings
To prepare the choy sum (1 lb), separate the quick-to-cook leaves and the slower-to-cook stems.
You can either make one horizontal chop to separate the leaves and stems of each plant all at once, or you can cut apart the stems and then chop away the leaves to separate.
Slice the garlic. Keep some of them sliced (2 cloves) and mince the rest (3 cloves).
Cut the ginger ( small amount) into roughly 1/8 slices. We used about 4 slices for 1 lb of choy sum.
Heat your wok over high heat for a quick minute. Add a dash of oil (2 tbsp), then turn the heat to medium low.
Add the ginger and garlic and stir-fry for 15 seconds.
Add the stems first, since they'll take longer to cook through. Stir-fry the stems for about 30 seconds.
Then, add the leaves.
Raise the heat to high and add cooking wine (1 tsp) and sugar (1 tsp). Mix the seasonings in and stir-fry for another 30 seconds.
Lower the heat to medium or low heat. Cover with the lid and let it steam for about 1.5-2 minutes, or until the choy sum is tender and just cooked through.
Uncover the wok and bring the heat up to the highest setting. Stir-fry on high heat for a minute, then add salt (0.50 tsp).
Drizzle finishing oil (1 tbsp) over the top and stir-fry for another 20 seconds, and then plate. Enjoy!
We have many, many happy memories of enjoying this dish growing up.
Now, hopefully, you can create your own memories with this dish with your loved ones.
Also, I cordially invite you to eat with us and learn more about the dish, Chinese culture, and my family.
Cheers, and thanks for cooking with us!
Feel free to comment below if you have any questions about the recipe.
