CHINESE MIXED VEGETABLES IN OYSTER SAUCE

By Ana Larramendi

Makes 2-3 servings as a side dish
With meat addition, serves 2 as an entree
 
Here is a basic recipe for a vegetable side dish that is enhanced by the umami of Chinese Oyster Sauce. This delicious preparation is super-easy to make…
I can happily gobble down a whole bowl of this as is.
You can also make a meal out of it by adding shrimp or chicken and serving it over rice
 
Traditionally, oyster sauce is made by slowly simmering oysters in water until the juices caramelize into a thick, brown, intensely flavorful sauce. Oyster sauce is an invention by Lee Kum Sheung in Nanshui, Zhuhai of Guangdong Province in China in 1888*. (Wikipedia)
 
I recommend going to an Asian grocer to find this special ingredient. There are a number of varieties made and the cheap brands don’t even have oysters listed in the ingredients! I consider Lee Kum Kee to be the best flavored brand.
 
Ingredients:
Sauce:
½ C. cold water
2 teas. Cornstarch
2 TB. Oyster Sauce
1 TB. Tamari or soy sauce
1 teas. Toasted Sesame oil
1 green onion, thinly sliced
½ teas. Red pepper flakes (optional if you want heat)
 
Veggies:
2 TB. Vegetable oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
Or 1/3 C. greens of garlic scapes cut in 1 inch pieces
1 C. sliced fresh mushrooms (portabella, shiitake, oyster, white button- mixed or one kind- your choice)
1 C. of broccoli or sugar snap peas in 1-inch pieces
6 C. washed and coarsely chopped mixed Chinese greens: Bok Choy, Napa cabbage, even Swiss chard, beet greens or the thicker outer leaves of romaine lettuce!
Meat option:
12 oz. raw peeled and deveined shrimp
OR
12 oz. boneless, skinless chicken breast or thigh meat, diced into 1-ince pieces.
 
 
Instructions:
All stir-fry style dishes cook very quickly, so it is important to have all your ingredients prepped in advance since there is hardly any time between each step.
 
Start by preparing the sauce. Mix the cornstarch with the water till all the lumps are out, then add all the other sauce ingredients, set aside.
 
Choose either a wok (if you have one) or a very large skillet to cook this. Heat the vegetable oil in the skillet in “high” till it just begins to smoke, then quickly add the garlic (or scapes), mushrooms and broccoli/peas. With a wooden spoon stir and mix the vegetables as they cook. Cook about 1+ minutes.
 
(NOTE: if you are going to add the shrimp or chicken, add them now and cook for 2 minutes).
 
Add the 6 cups of mixed greens and continue to stir and sauté the mixture for about a minute.
 
Give a last second stir to the prepared sauce (the cornstarch tends to settle at the bottom) and pour the sauce over the whole mixture in the pan. This will wilt and steam all the ingredients. Continue stirring 1-2 minutes longer, or until the sauce has thickened and become clear. Taste for seasoning. If it needs more salt you can add a little more Tamari. If the sauce is too thick you can add 1-2 TB. of water to make it ‘saucier’.
 
Serve immediately as is, or over freshly steamed rice.
 
Notes:
This recipe can be a simple as one type of mushroom and one type of green, or a mix of many veggies. Harder vegetables like kale, cauliflower, turnips, kohlrabi, carrots, celery and zucchini work well and should be added early as they need about 3 minutes of cooking to become more tender. The greens literally don’t need more than a minute of cooking and are always added last.