Healthy Restaurant Style Chinese Greens
I have been asked too many times on how to make a simple Chinese greens dish Chinese restaurant style…so here it is. The secrets, tips, and recipe to make all your vegetables taste and look picture perfect, just like top Chinese/Cantonese chefs do.
The Best Chinese Greens
Chinese greens with oyster sauce is an easy dish to prepare but not many can make it right. I have seen too many overcooked vegetable dishes served at homes and even at restaurants.
Once you grasp the basic techniques and skills of making this dish, you can pretty much cook any vegetable or Chinese greens you want — choy sum, kai lan (Chinese mustard greens), bok choy/baby bok choy, or any green leafy vegetables.
Without further ado, I unveil the following secrets, tips and tricks.
Cook’s Tips on Making Chinese Greens
- Buy fresh vegetables – select the freshest greens available in your market, such as the baby bok choy shown in my pictures.
- Use garlic oil – I use a lot of garlic oil in my Chinese recipes. It adds a lot of depth to simple dishes and infuses the veggies with garlicky flavor and aroma.
- Use cooking oil wisely – Add a drop or two of cooking oil into the water before blanching the vegetables. The cooking oil coats the vegetables so they look fresh and green, not purple.
- Don’t kill your vegetables, they are already dead! – Don’t overcook your vegetables by leaving them too long in the boiling water. Perfectly blanched vegetables should be somewhat crunchy, not limp and wilted.
- Discard excess water from the vegetables before plating/serving – Drain the water from the vegetables so it doesn’t dilute the sauce. Excess water in the vegetables will make your vegetable dish watery.
Now that you have the chops, complete your Chinese meals with a plate of fresh, green, and delectable Chinese greens. Trust me, vegetables never look or tasted this good from now on.
What Dishes to Serve with this Recipe?
For a wholesome meal and easy weeknight dinner, I recommend this dish paired with the following recipes.
Pairs well with:
Restaurant-style Chinese Greens with Oyster Sauce Recipe
Restaurant-style Chinese Greens with Oyster Sauce Recipe - Read my 5 quick tips on how to cook Chinese greens.
Ingredients
- Your favorite Chinese greens, I used 6 baby bok choy for my dish
- 1 tablespoon oyster sauce, Lee Kum Kee brand preferred
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1/4 teaspoon cooking oil
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- 2 dashes white pepper powder
Garlic Oil:
- 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon oil
Directions
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1Prepare the garlic oil first by heating up your wok and stir fry the minced garlic until they turn light brown. Dish out and set aside.
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2Heat up a pot of water and bring it to boil. Add two small drops of cooking oil into the water. Drop your vegetables into the boiling water and quickly blanch them for about 20-30 seconds (depends on the quantity). As soon as they turn slightly wilted, transfer them out and drain the excess water off the vegetables. Arrange the vegetables on a plate.
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3In a wok, heat up the cooking oil, and then add the oyster sauce, water, sugar, and white pepper powder. As soon as the sauce heats up and blends well, transfer and drench it over the blanced vegetables. Top the vegetables with the garlic oil and serve immediately.
Recipe Notes
For the garlic oil, the garlic will continue to cook in the oil so as soon as they turn light brown in the wok, you should dish it out. Eventually, they will turn golden brown.
Latest Recipes:
Carol
Hi, I would appreciate it if someone would tell me how to get the dirt out. I noticed that the recipe shows the bok choy intact. I cut the end of the bok choy and rinsed but could not get all the dirt out. I ended up taking all the leaves apart to clean them properly.
Rasa Malaysia
Cut the stems off and soak in water.
Tom Scovill
Yum. Family give me top ratings for this recipe. Simple to cook. flavors are subtle and perfect dish to the rest of meal. Printed and added to our binder of favorite recipes – reserved for only the top 100 family recipes. Advise following the recipe, the greens only need a small amount of sauce.
Rasa Malaysia
Hi Tom, thanks for trying this recipe.
Ilanna
Made this with mustard greens and it was the first time I’ve really enjoyed eating them. Thank you!
michael
where is the recipe for this. ive looked all over your site and I cant find it
Rasa Malaysia
The recipe link is at the bottom of the page where it says RECIPE HERE:
https://rasamalaysia.com/restaurant-style-chinese-greens-with/2/
zakirahzakaria
Love it! This has become a staple in my family.
Ronald
Thanks, finally found a good description how to make this healthy vegetable (did it wrong all the time by cooking the bok choy in oil…)
ucookbooks
Like this simple recipes!