This dish is one of my favourite Chinese side dishes and it’s incredibly easy to make. The original recipe uses Chinese broccoli (gai lan or kai lan), but broccolini works just as well. Broccolini or tenderstem broccoli is a hybrid of broccoli and kai lan.
- Ingredients for 2 portions:
- 350 g bimi or kai lan (Chinese broccoli)
- 2 Tbs flavourless oil
- 2 Tbs fresh ginger, finely chopped
- 1 Tbs Shaoxing wine
- ½ ts sugar
- Optional 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- Optional 1 Tbs corn starch dissolved in 1 Tbs of water
Bring a large pan full of water to the boil. Wash the broccolini and remove any dried up ends.
Blanche the broccolini for 4 minutes and drain well. You can now continue to finish the broccolini or set them apart for later use. If you want to keep them for later, rinse them under cold water and drain well.
Pour the oil into a wok and fry the ginger until fragrant. Add the garlic and fry for another couple of seconds.
Add the sugar and Shaoxing wine. Dissolve the sugar.
Add the broccolini and stir fry with the rest of the ingredients. If you use cold broccolini you’ve blanched in advance, add a couple of table spoons of water or stock and heat through with a lid covering your wok.
To let the sauce stick to the broccolini I like to add a little corn starch towards the end. Use about half if you prefer a runnier sauce.
Serve with rice and roasted pork belly or perhaps some red cooked pork belly.
The original recipe is from Every Grain of Rice by Fuchsia Dunlop.
