Simple Cooking With Chinese Greens: A Brief Introduction

The Chinese New Year is upon us and 2012, the Year of the Dragon, is said to be a particularly lucky one. Lately I've been noticing many recipes for Chinese stir-fries and salads made with Asian greens, so I thought it'd be fitting to post a brief introduction here today.

In The Chicago Tribune last week, Bill Daley wrote about stir-fry greens, specifically Chinese greens (Bok Choy, Chinese Broccoli, Napa Cabbage) cooked the Chinese way, "fast, simple, and deliciously."

When it comes to cooking his greens, Daly turns to Asian stir-fry expert, Grace Young, who offers her own advice for buying and preparing them. In short: like anything, choose good quality vegetables and make sure they're not flowering or blemished. Buy them close to the time when you're planning on using them so they'll be fresh and delicious. When it's time to actually prepare them, wash and dry them well and remember that with high-heat cooking like stir-frying, olive oil really isn't the best choice (Young recommends peanut, canola, or grapeseed oil). There's certainly more to know, and a wealth of resources out there if and when you're ready to satiate your Asian cooking curiosity. Here are a few good starting points:

• Read more about Asian greens: Know Your Asian Greens
• Read more about stir-frying: Grace Young's Books
• Check out advice on Chinese stir-fry: Terry Tan's 10 Tips
• Experiment in the kitchen: Grace Young's Recipes

(Image: Emily Ho)

Comments (11)

could that be right? i think it's a bad idea to stir fry w/ toasted sesame oil - maybe young means regular sesame oil- haven't seen that.

I use a light olive oil (not extra virgin), and fry on medium heat. High heat is too strong for delicate greens. I like to add a little water, and let the veg steam a little, with the lid on.

I own Grace Young's "Stir Frying to the Sky's Edge", and it's an absolutely fantastic stir fry cookbook. I follow her recipes to a tee and they are delicious every time. I always use whichever oil she suggests within her recipes, usually sesame (and yes, we use 100% roasted), peanut, or canola. Grace Young's work is perfect for anyone new to the realm of stir frying and preparing Chinese dishes.

hey, look what i found:

Toasted sesame oil burns at a lower heat than many oils. When using it in a stir fry, it should be combined with other oils and used to add a burst of flavor as opposed to being used as the primary oil for frying. Often, recipes for stir-fry that incorporate sesame oil will add the oil at the very end of cooking.

that's nice to know.

It's funny, I just cooked chinese broccoli for the first time last night. I steamed it briefly and served it with tofu, quinoa and a simple sauce of ponzu sweetened with a little honey. The ponzu turned out to be a really good foil for the slight bitterness of the greens. Overall a very yummy meal.

The sesame seed oil for stir-frying is unrefined and not toasted.

You may be able to get an unroasted sesame oil at indian supermarkets under the name "gingelly" oil.

Delighted to see this post. Thank you for including me. Grace Young does NOT recommend cooking with sesame oil in my story. She drizzles a little sesame oil, Asian toasted sesame oil, on the greens when they are done cooking. An inside story featuring Grace spells it out further on what oils to use in stir-frying: "High cooking heat demands a cooking oil that can withstand high temperatures. Do not use olive oil; it smokes at too low a temperature for proper stir-frying. Toasted sesame oil isn't for high heat cooking but is a flavor accent."

I'm thrilled to see this post on Asian greens. I recommend stir-frying with a high smoking point oil like peanut, canola, grapeseed or your favorite vegetable oil. I add roasted/toasted sesame oil after cooking because it's a low-smoking point oil that isn't good for stir-frying. The dragon year is great time to make major life changes. I hope this piece inspires wokking and stir-frying in the new year.

Thank you for the clarification, Grace and Bill, on cooking with the sesame oil. I apologize if I misunderstood the extent to which Grace cooks with the oil vs adding it after cooking. So happy to have the chance to learn more about Asian greens myself, and always a big fan of Grace's work.

Choi sum, bok choi, gai lan and ong choi (the ones with hollow stems) are delicious steamed briefly, then dressed with toasted sesame oil and a sprinkling of Malden sea salt and chili flakes, or some fermented tofu (so-called 'stinky' tofu, though no more stinky than a good roquefort, IMO). I'm fed up with wokking - it's so labour-intensive, and you can only make small batches at a time. I like to serve a BIG dish of greens.