Chinese Broccoli With Oyster Sauce
Fresh crunchy Gai Lan (Chinese Broccoli) are first blanched and then smothered in a delicious thick oyster sauce gravy to create this yummy and quick Chinese broccoli with oyster sauce dish!
Equipment
- 1 Wok
Ingredients
- 1 lb Gai lan tips (baby Gai Lan) or regular Gai lan 454g
- 3-4 Cloves Minced garlic
- 1 Tablespoon Cooking oil For blanching
- 1 teaspoon Table salt For blanching
Sauce
- 1 Tablespoon Oyster sauce
- 1 teaspoon Light soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon White sugar
- 1½ teaspoon Cornstarch for cornstarch slurry
- 1½ teaspoon Water for cornstarch slurry
- ½ Cup Water 125ml
Instructions
Preparing the Gai Lan
- Wash and rinse the Gai Lan under cold running water until it’s clean.
- Trim off a tiny portion of the ends of the stalk about 1/2 inch thick if the grocery store hasn’t done it for you.
- Next heat up a large pot of water.
- Once the water boils, add your cooking oil + table salt to the water and give it a quick mix.
- Now add your washed Gai Lan to the pot of boiling water. Make sure to press down onto the Gai Lan in the pot of water with some chopsticks or a spatula to ensure that it is submerged in the hot water otherwise some parts of the Gai Lan may still be raw.
- Blanch the Gai Lan for around 2-3 minutes until you reach your desired tenderness. If you’re using regular Gai Lan instead of baby Gai Lan then add an extra minute to the blanching time as the stems are thicker and tougher.
- Now drain out the water and then immediately run cold running water under the Gai Lan to stop the cooking process.
- Place the Gai Lan under a strainer to let it dry or use a salad spinner and set it aside.
Making the sauce:
- In a small bowl, add in your oyster sauce, white sugar, light soy sauce, and 1/2 cup of water, and mix everything well together.
- Mince 3-4 cloves of garlic and set it aside.
- Heat up a wok on medium-low heat and once the wok is hot (i.e. steam coming out) add your cooking oil to the wok.
- Once the oil is hot, add your minced garlic to the wok.
- Stir-fry the garlic for roughly 1 minute until it turns golden yellow and crispy and then immediately add the sauce to the wok.
- Mix everything well together and then turn up the heat to medium-high.
- Prepare a cornstarch slurry by combining the cornstarch with the water and mixing it together until it turns into liquid form.
- Once the sauce starts to bubble, stir the sauce in a circular motion and then slowly pour the cornstarch slurry into the wok while stirring the sauce.
- Mix everything well together and once the sauce thickens, turn off the stove and transfer the sauce over to a bowl.
- Once the Chinese broccoli has dried (make sure there’s no excess water on the leaves!), transfer them onto a plate.
- Pour the sauce on top of the Chinese broccoli and serve!