Blanched Asian Vegetables
Ingredients
The greens
- 400–500g
- gai lan, choy sum or bok choy (any one, or a mix, I normally do bok choy)
The blanch
- 2L
- water
- Plenty
- salt (You want it to almost taste like the ocean)
To finish
- 1 tbsp
- oyster sauce, or light soy (Optional)
Method
- 01
Trim any dry or wilted ends. Cut them to smaller pieces if they are too big. If the stems are thick, split them lengthwise so they cook at the same rate as the leaves.
- 02
Bring the water to a rolling boil with the salt.
- 03
Put the thickest parts in first. Then, the rest. Don't overcrowd the pot, just work with what you have.
- 04
Then you're happy with their consistency (some like it crunchier, some like it soft), take them out and drain.
- 05
If you're doing this for the next few days, mix some oil to preserve the greenness.
- 06
You can also put some oyster sauce if you wanted more flavour.
Notes
- The salt here is very important because of osmosis, unsalted water will cause the minerals in the vegetables to go into the water, instead you get the salt seasoning the vegetable as it cooks.