Chinese · All year
Garlic Gai Lan
Chinese broccoli, blanched until it is bright, then tossed with garlic and oyster sauce. One tablespoon of avocado oil.
15 minutes · Serves 6 · One platter
“All eyes look to you, and you give them their food at the proper time.”
Ingredients
- 1 ½ lb gai lan, Chinese broccoli
- 1 tsp fine salt, for the blanching water
- 1 tbsp avocado oil
- 4 garlic cloves, sliced
- 2 tbsp oyster sauce
- 2 tbsp of the blanching water
Method
- 1
Trim the dry ends of the gai lan. If a stalk is thicker than a pencil, split it lengthwise so it cooks with the leaves.
- 2
Boil a pot of water, salt it, and blanch the gai lan 60 to 90 seconds, until the stalks are tender and the leaves are still bright green. Lift them out. Save 2 tablespoons of the water. Do not leave them in until they turn olive.
- 3
Heat the avocado oil in a wide skillet over medium. Cook the garlic about 20 seconds, until it smells sweet and is not yet brown. Burnt garlic is bitter and you cannot stir it back.
- 4
Add the oyster sauce and the 2 tablespoons of blanching water. Toss in the gai lan just until it is coated. Taste a stalk. Salt it only if the oyster sauce did not.
From the kitchen
- Read the oyster sauce label. Use one that lists oysters, water, salt, sugar, and starch. Skip a bottle that lists soybean, canola, or corn oil.
- Broccolini is the stand-in if you cannot find gai lan. The time in the water is about the same.
My note
Kept on this device, beside the recipe, for the next time you cook it.
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