Name: Choy Sum in Oyster Sauce
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 20 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Chinese
Ingredients: 600 g choy sum, or pak choi, trimmed; 2 litres water; 1 tbsp fine sea salt; 1 tbsp vegetable oil; ½ tsp caster sugar; 3 tbsp oyster sauce; 1 tbsp light soy sauce; 2 tbsp water; 1 tsp caster sugar; 1 tsp sesame oil; 2 tbsp vegetable oil; 4 garlic cloves, sliced; 20 g ginger, in fine shreds

Choy Sum in Oyster Sauce

Choy sum blanched in oiled salted water and dressed in warmed oyster sauce. Three minutes, and the oil in the water is why restaurant greens gleam.

20 min total Serves 4 servings Easy

Build the Meal Around Choy Sum in Oyster Sauce

Steamed fish
Roast pork
Steamed rice

Making Choy Sum in Oyster Sauce, Step by Step

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Bring the water to a rolling boil with the salt, the tablespoon of oil and the sugar.
Drop the choy sum in, stems first, and blanch 90 seconds, until the stems are just tender and the leaves bright.
Lift the greens out with tongs and drain them well, then lay them on a warm plate all facing the same way.
Warm the oyster sauce, soy sauce, water, sugar and sesame oil together until just simmering, then pour it over the greens.
Heat the 2 tbsp of oil in a small pan with the garlic and ginger until the garlic just turns pale gold, 60 seconds.
Pour the hot garlic oil over the greens and serve at once.

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Worth Knowing Before You Cook

Oil in the blanching water. That is the gloss.

Salt the water heavily.

Dress on the plate, not in the pan.

If You're Missing Something

If you only have ground ginger, a quarter-teaspoon for each tablespoon of fresh is the ratio usually given; it tastes warmer and less bright than the fresh root.
An eighth of a teaspoon of garlic powder per clove is the stand-in usually given when you are out of fresh garlic; it will not brown the same way, and it burns easily, so add it with the liquid.

Leftovers

None. Blanch to order — reheated greens go grey.