Kailan with Oyster Sauce
Another one for the Everything with Rice series! This dish is a staple in our weeknight dinner repertoire, not always with kailan (a.k.a. chinese broccoli some places) but any leafy green that is available on the day. It could be thai baby kailan, xiaobaicai, bokchoi, chinese spinach, etc. We usually have it as part of a family style meal, with a couple other dishes and a bowl of rice. To be honest, I will often just have these vegetables with a bowl of rice topped with a soft egg and it’s so perfect!
Jump to RecipeWe aren’t vegetarians over here, but are definitely trying to be more mindful to consume a more plant-based diet. It helps when that doesn’t equate to plain, steamed broccoli or mushy peas. That being said, I’m a fan of both! These simply boiled kailan are dressed up with a tasty oyster sauce and crunchy garlic chips, like you would get while eating out. But it’s really so quick & easy to make at home, why wouldn’t you! Suddenly the vegetables won’t just be a side dish or an afterthought, but an integral part of your meal.
And for the best right! These green leafy vegetables are packed full of fibre, antioxidants, vitamin A & C, and potassium. Consuming these vegetables with some oil (in the sauce) actually helps your body to absorb the fat-soluble vitamin A, so really there is no case for eating plain steamed vegetables. Although these kailan usually have a nice sweet, bitter and earthy flavour on their own. When boiling, make sure not to over cook the kailan otherwise you lose a lot of the nutrients in the water you pour away. Growing up, we actually drank the water the vegetables were boiled in as ‘soup’ to make sure we got all the nutrients. You don’t have to do that, just blanche lightly and remember to eat your greens!
Kailan with Oyster Sauce & Garlic Chips
Ingredients
For blanching the kailan
- 300 g Kai Lan, or baby Kai Lan or an other leafy green vegetable really
- 1½ l Boiling water
- ½ tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Sesame Oil
For the garlic chips
- 3 cloves garlic peeled and sliced thinly (¼cm thick)
- 1 tbsp neutral cooking oil
For the oyster sauce (aka brown sauce)
- 1 tsp corn or potato flour / starch
- ¼ cup room temperature water or broth if you have any leftover in the fridge
- 1 tbsp soya sauce
- 1 tbsp shaoxing wine
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 2 tbsp oyster sauce
- Dash of white pepper
- all the oil that you fried your garlic chips in
Instructions
Blanching the Kailan
- First, prepare your vegetables. I would trim the bottom end off (c.¼cm off each), and then place all the vegetables in a large bowl to soak. After a few minutes, shake them around in the water to agitate before draining. I would rinse them a couple more times before draining and setting aside.
- If you have thicker stems, you make choose to split each one lengthwise down the middle so you have 2 equal (and more manageable) portions of leaf & stem. It's important that they are all roughly the same thickness so they cook evenly.
- Bring your water to a boil on the stovetop and add sesame oil and salt.
- When ready, place vegetables into the boiling water and let blanche for about 4 – 5 minutes. Flip the whole bunch around halfway.
- Drain well, and set aside.
Garlic chips
- Heat 1 tbsp of neutral oil in a (nonstick) saucepan on high heat until smoking. You definitely want your pot to be small enough such that the oil is not too spread out and allows the garlic to be fully submerged.
- Place sliced garlic into the hot oil, turn down heat slightly but that it is still bubbling away around the garlic chips. Let fry until golden brown.
- Prepare a paper towel on a plate, scoop out the garlic chips using a slotted spoon and set them on the paper towel.
- RESERVE THE OIL FOR YOUR SAUCE! Just set it aside to cool slightly.
Oyster sauce & serving
- Mix corn or potato flour / starch with 1/4 cup of room temperature water in a mug or bowl until all smooth.
- Into the same mug or bowl, add soya sauce, shaoxing wine, sesame oil, oyster sauce & white pepper. Mix well.
- Place the pot used for your garlic chips, with the oil in it, back over the cooker and add your sauce mixture you just prepared in the mug or bowl.
- Turn the heat on low, and stir continuously.
- After a few minutes, you should see some small bubbles starting to form at the top and your sauce will start to thicken.
- If you don't stir continuously, you risk getting starchy clumps and noone wants that.As a few larger bubbles start to form, your sauce will likely be to the right consistency. You decide!
- When ready, turn off the heat. If your saucepan is large enough, you make want to mix back in all the cooked kailan before plating onto your serving dish. Otherwise, you can also just place your kailan on your serving dish and pour the sauce over. Top with the garlic chips your prepared earlier.
- Serve with rice, or as one of the dishes for a family style meal!
