Asian Style Sauteed Greens Food

AN EASY CHINESE GREENS RECIPE

Steps:

• Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Add a pinch of salt and several drops of vegetable oil so that the blanched vegetables will look greener (optional), stir to mix well.
• Add the vegetables. Blanch until just cooked through and still crisp. It takes 1 minute or so to cook tender vegetables such as spinach, baby bok choy, yu choy, chard, and choy sum. It takes 2 to 3 minutes for Chinese broccoli, broccoli, and broccolini.
• Once the vegetables are done, immediately rinse them with cold tap water to stop cooking. Stop once the vegetables have cooled to a warm temperature and not completely cold. Drain, gently squeezing out as much water as you can, then set aside in a strainer to dry further. If you plan to serve them immediately, you can use paper towels to pat the vegetables dry.
• When you're ready to serve, plate the blanched vegetables with minimal overlapping. (*Footnote 2)
• Heat the oil in a small saucepan or skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Add the garlic, stirring constantly until the edges of the garlic turns golden (*Footnote 3). Then immediately pour the hot oil with the garlic over the plated vegetables.
• Drizzle soy sauce on top of vegetables and serve immediately as a side dish.

ASIAN-INSPIRED MUSTARD GREENS

Steps:

• Place the sesame seeds into a large skillet over medium heat, and cook and stir constantly until the seeds are toasted a golden brown and make a continuous crackling noise, 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer the seeds immediately to a bowl to stop the cooking process. Set seeds aside.
• Place sesame oil in the hot skillet, and heat until it just begins to smoke (this should happen very fast). Place mustard greens into the hot oil, and pour in water. With a spatula, gently toss the greens until they are wilted and reduced in quantity, about 2 minutes. Mix in garlic, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, sake, and sugar.
• Bring the mixture to a boil, stir until sugar has dissolved, and cover the skillet. Reduce heat to a simmer, and cook until the greens are tender, 10 to 15 minutes. If a thicker sauce is desired, remove greens with a slotted spoon, and cook the liquid down to desired thickness; return greens to the skillet, toss in the pan juices, and sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds.

SAUTEED GREEN BEANS WITH SOY, SHALLOTS, GINGER, GARLIC AND CHILE

Steps:

• Prepare the scallion garnish: Finely slice the scallions on an angle and drop them into a large bowl with ice and water - this will make the scallion threads curl up nicely so they look like ribbons. Set aside.
• Wash green beans under cold running water. Cut off the root ends and discard. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the beans and blanch until bright green, about 2 minutes. Shock in ice water then drain in a colander.
• Heat a large wok over high heat. Add the peanut oil, then add the shallots, garlic, ginger and chile. Stir the mixture around so it fries in the oil and gets fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the green beans and toss a couple of times to coat everything evenly. Saute for a couple of minutes so the beans get a little caramelization. Add the soy sauce and cook for 1 to 2 more minutes; the beans should still be nice and crisp. Transfer to a large platter and garnish with drained scallion curls.

ASIAN-STYLE SAUTEED GREENS

Steps:

• Cut the bases off the bok-choy, separating the leaves but keeping plenty of the stalk on each leaf. Wash and dry the leaves and cut into 2-inch pieces. Remove the stems from the mushrooms and slice them. Wash and dry edamame and bean sprouts.
• Stir-fry or saute the mushrooms in a wok or large pan over med-high heat in the oils and add a bit of salt. Cook the mushrooms until they give up some juices and reabsorb it. Add the garlic and ginger and saute for 1 minute. Add the bok-choy and edamame. Cook just until bok-choy is wilted.
• Combine the soy sauce, vinegar, and corn starch in a small bowl or cup. Add this mixture to the greens and cook for approximately to minutes or until the greens are nicely glazed. Toss in bean sprouts at the last minute.
• Serve hot.

GRILLED TOFU AND SAUTEED ASIAN GREENS

Steps:

• Cut tofu crosswise into 6 slices. Arrange in 1 layer on a triple layer of paper towels and top with another triple layer of towels. Weight with a shallow baking pan or baking sheet and let stand 2 minutes. Repeat weighting with dry paper towels 2 more times.
• Stir together soy sauce, sesame oil, brown sugar, ginger, garlic, Tabasco, and 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in a glass pie plate. Add tofu slices in 1 layer and marinate, turning over every couple of minutes, 8 minutes total.
• Heat a lightly oiled well-seasoned ridged grill pan over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking. Lift tofu from marinade with a slotted spatula (reserve marinade) and grill, turning over once carefully with spatula, until grill marks appear and tofu is heated through, 4 to 6 minutes total.
• While tofu grills, heat remaining teaspoon vegetable oil in a 12-inch skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then sauté greens, tossing with tongs, until beginning to wilt. Add reserved marinade and sauté, tossing, until greens are just wilted, about 1 minute. Lift greens from skillet with tongs, letting excess marinade drip off, and divide between 2 plates.
• Serve greens with tofu slices.

SAUTEED GREEN CABBAGE

Steps:

• Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet or wok. When shimmering, add cabbage and sauté until crisp-tender, about 8 minutes. In the last minute of cooking, add sugar, sesame oil and salt to taste.

SAUTEED ASIAN GREENS

Steps:

• 1 lb. Chinese mustard greens (or bok choy or choy sum).
• 2 t. Asian sesame oil.
• 1 clove garlic, minced.
• 1-2 t. soy sauce.