Chinese Broccoli with Oyster Sauce and Shiitake Mushrooms
Chinese broccoli (gai lan) can be a little bland on its own. Try mixing it with a flavour bomb shiitake mushroom oyster sauce! You'll love this.
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Servings: 4 people
Calories: 98kcal
Ingredients
- 1 bunch Chinese broccoli (gai lan) about 250g/9oz, cut in half, lengthways (note 1)
- 2 cloves garlic finely chopped/minced
- 1 tablespoon shaoxing wine
- 1 tablespoon oil sunflower or olive oil are both okay
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 4 shiitake mushrooms (dried) Optional: fresh (note 2)
- 1 cup boiling water
Fragrant oyster sauce
- 1½ tablespoon oyster sauce
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- 1 cup shiitake soaking water (note 3)
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch/cornflour
- ⅛ teaspoon sesame oil a few drops
- ⅛ teaspoon white pepper
- ½ teaspoon dark brown sugar substitute: caster sugar
Instructions
Prepare the dried shiitake mushrooms
- In a medium heatproof bowl, add dried shiitake mushrooms and 1 cup of boiling water. Cover and soak for about 20 - 30 minutes or until mushrooms are plump and no longer dry. (note 4)
- Once the mushrooms are plump and ready, lightly squeeze each one of them to draw out excess liquid. Reserve the soaking water for later use.
- Thickly slice the mushrooms then set aside. Guide: medium-sized mushroom can be sliced into roughly 3-4 thick slices.
Express boil/blanch the Chinese broccoli (optional: steam instead)
- Bring a large pot of water to the boil. Add 1 teaspoon of salt to lightly season the water.
- Keeping the heat on medium-high, add the stem half of the Chinese broccoli into the boiling water. After 1 minute, add the leafy half of the Chinese broccoli. Gently press the leaves into the boiling water with a slotted spoon or a pair of tongs. Cook for 30 seconds.
- Remove the Chinese broccoli and set aside. Discard the cooking water.
Bringing it all together
- In a medium-sized bowl, add all of the fragrant oyster sauce ingredients together and mix thoroughly with a spoon.
- In a non-stick pan or wok, add 1 tablespoon of oil on medium heat. Once the pan is hot enough, add shiitake mushrooms. Fry for about 2-3 minutes or until mushrooms lightly golden.
- Add garlic and stir for about 2 minutes. The kitchen should smell really fragrant at this point. Deglaze with shaoxing wine and let it reduce for a few seconds.
- Give the oyster sauce ingredients one more stir, making sure the cornstarch/cornflour have been mixed into the liquid, pour into the pan.
- Cook on low heat, stirring constantly until sauce thickens and lightly bubbling. About 2 minutes.
- Add the Chinese broccoli into the pan, mixing for about 1 minute. Ensure even coating of sauce. Serve.
Notes
Note 1. Cutting Chinese broccoli (gai lan) After washing, cut the Chinese broccoli in half, lengthways. One half will be the leaves and the other half, largely the stems.
Depending on the bunch that's available when shopping, sometimes the stems can be quite thick. If they're about 1.5cm/half an inch in diameter, simply cut the stem in half, lengthways. This will help the vegetable cook evenly and easier to eat.
Note 2. Dried vs fresh shiitake mushrooms for this recipe, dried is preferred as the soaking water will be used to make the sauce. The result is phenomenal (the entire dish becomes super fragrant) so I strongly suggest using the dried version! If using fresh mushrooms, skip the parts about soaking the mushrooms and head straight to step 3.
Note: Dried shiitake mushrooms are a lot more fragrant than fresh. Hence, it is usually the choice for cooking. However, it is chewier than the fresh ones and so if you're making, for example, mixed mushrooms stir fry or risotto, and want to add shiitake, opt for the fresh ones. This will ensure consistency in texture with other mushroom varieties.
Note 3. Shiitake soaking water this stuff is super super fragrant so never throw it out! Once the mushrooms are taken out, there is usually little bits of sediment at the bottom. Exclude these by stop pouring just before reaching the very bottom of the bowl when preparing the oyster sauce mixture.
Note 4. Soaking the shiitake mushrooms in hot water I usually use a ceramic or glass bowl to soak the mushrooms and just cover with a small plate. Covering just allows the heat to be trapped in the bowl and helps the mushrooms absorb water faster. The quicker it's ready, the quicker this dish is to make!
Tried this recipe?Mention @Casuallypeckish or tag #casuallypeckish!
Nutrition
Calories: 98kcal | Carbohydrates: 15.2g | Protein: 2.8g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 0.6g | Sodium: 302mg | Potassium: 95mg | Fiber: 1.6g | Sugar: 3g | Calcium: 21mg | Iron: 1mg