Steamed Chinese Lettuce I Food

STIR-FRIED LETTUCE, A HEALTHY COOKED LETTUCE RECIPE

Steps:

• Take the lettuce and firmly hit it on the counter to remove the core. (One of the first of many tricks I learned when working in the restaurant industry!)
• Remove the first outer layer of the lettuce and any discolored leaves and discard. Tear the lettuce with your hands into large 4 to 5-inch pieces.
• Place the lettuce in a large bowl of very cold water and give it a good stir. This washes your lettuce and rehydrates it. Next, drain the lettuce in a colander and give it a good shake to remove the excess water from the surface of the lettuce. Iceberg lettuce already contains a lot of water, so removing the excess water is important, or you'll end up with too much liquid. Feel free to use a salad spinner, which is a good idea if your stove and wok does not generate enough high heat.
• Combine the soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, salt, sugar, white pepper into a small bowl and set aside.
• Heat your wok over low heat, and add 2 tablespoons of oil and the fresh ginger slice. Make sure to smash the ginger with the side of a knife to release the juices and flavors before you add it. Infuse the oil for 15 seconds, being careful not to burn the ginger.
• Turn the heat up to the highest setting, and stir in the chopped garlic. Then mmediately add the iceberg lettuce. Stir-fry everything together, using a scooping motion to coat the lettuce uniformly with the oil. After about 20 seconds, gather the lettuce in the middle of the wok in a pile, so you can see the liquid pooling around it in the wok.
• Let cook uncovered for another 15 seconds, and while this is happening, pour the soy sauce mixture over the lettuce. At this point, the sides of the wok will start to super-heat. This may be tough to achieve on your average stove burner, but do your best!
• Now in a single motion, stir the lettuce in a circular motion while spreading the lettuce out across the wok. The idea is to get the lettuce and the liquid searing along the sides of the wok to get that wok hei flavor. After the searing has stopped, repeat the process of gathering the lettuce in the middle of the wok again and letting the sides of the wok heat up again.
• After this second round of searing, your iceberg lettuce should be tender, with the green parts wilted. Stir fried lettuce should be slightly crunchy, so be sure not to overcook it. This whole process from start to finish takes less than 2 minutes in the wok.

STIR-FRIED CELTUCE STEM

Steps:

• Peel the skin of stem. Then cut it into long trips. Chop garlic clove and cut ginger into shreds.
• Rise the long trips in boiling water for around 1 minute (control the time in order to keep the original color). Remove from the wok and set aside.
• Heat up some oil in wok; add ginger, garlic and Sichuan peppercorn to stir-fry until smelling the taste of garlic and peppercorn. Add cooked long trips and quick fry for about 1 minute.
• Add salt, mix together and serve.
• You can also making it as a salad dish. Cool the cooked trips down and mix the heated oil with garlic, ginger, and peppercorn together with it. The ingredients are the same but it taste differently.

STIR-FRIED GARLIC LETTUCE

Steps:

• Combine the rice wine or sherry, soy sauce, sugar, and salt in a small bowl.
• Heat a 14-inch flat-bottomed wok over high heat until a bead of water vaporizes within 1 to 2 seconds of contact. Swirl in the vegetable oil, add the garlic, and stir-fry for 5 seconds. Add the lettuce and stir-fry for 1 to 2 minutes, or until it is just limp. Stir the sauce, swirl it into the wok, and stir-fry for 30 seconds to 1 minute more, or until the lettuce is just tender and still bright green. Remove from the heat, drizzle on the sesame oil, and serve.

STEAMED CHINESE LETTUCE I

Steps:

• 1. Separate lettuce leaves, and cut each in 4 sections. Place in a deep heatproof bowl. 2. Steam 15 minutes (see HOW-TO, _Steaming). 3. In a saucepan, blend together cornstarch, salt and cold stock. Then cook, stirring, until mixture thickens. Pour over steamed lettuce and serve. The Thousand Recipe Chinese Cookbook. ©1994 by Gloria Bley Miller.