Restaurant-Style Chinese Greens

Chinese greens with oyster sauce and garlic oil.

4.57 from 30 votes

Restaurant-Style Chinese Greens

Learn how to cook Chinese greens with oyster sauce at home! This easy recipe guides you through preparing Cantonese restaurant-style leafy Chinese greens vegetables, perfect as a side dish for your favorite Chinese meals.

Prep Time5

Cook Time10

Total Time15

Course: Vegetable

Cuisine: Chinese Recipes

Keyword: Restaurant-style Chinese Greens

Servings: people

Author: Bee Yinn Low

Ingredients

Garlic Oil:

3 cloves garlic minced
1/2 tablespoon oil

Chinese Greens Stir-Fry:

1/2 teaspoon cooking oil
8 oz. (225g) Chinese greens trim off stem end, baby bok choy and other Chinese green leafy vegetables
1 1/2 tablespoons oyster sauce Lee Kum Kee brand preferred
3 tablespoons water
1/2 teaspoon sugar
3 dashes white pepper

Instructions

Prepare the Garlic Oil first by heating up your wok or skillet and stir-frying the minced garlic until it turns light brown. Remove it from heat immediately; the hot oil will continue to cook the minced garlic, turning it golden brown. Dish it out and set it aside.
Heat up a pot of water until it boils. Add 1/2 teaspoon oil to the water. Place the vegetables into the boiling water and blanch them quickly for about 20-30 seconds, adjusting the time based on the quantity being cooked.
As soon as they begin to wilt slightly, remove them from the water and drain off any excess water from the vegetables. Arrange them neatly on a plate.
In a sauce pan heat up the remaining cooking oil, and then add the oyster sauce, water, sugar, and white pepper.
As soon as the sauce heats, blends well, and slightly thickens, transfer and drench it over the blanched vegetables. Top the vegetables with the garlic oil and serve immediately.

Video

Notes

You can substitute other easily available vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, and lettuce in this recipe. The end result will be equally tantalizing.
Choose the freshest greens available in your market, such as the baby bok choy shown in my pictures.

Garlic oil is a key ingredient in many of my Chinese recipes. It adds depth to simple dishes and infuses the veggies with a delicious garlicky flavor and aroma.

Add a few drops of cooking oil (about 1/4 teaspoon) into the water before blanching the vegetables. This coats the vegetables, keeping them fresh and green, and prevents them from turning purple.

Perfectly blanched and cooked vegetables should be somewhat crunchy, not limp and wilted. Avoid leaving them too long in the boiling water.

Discard the water from the vegetables to prevent it from diluting the sauce. Excess water can make your vegetable dish watery.

Nutrition