Stir Fried Romaine Lettuce 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 LETTUCE

Steps:

• Trim the romaine lettuce and cut it crosswise into 1-inch (2.5-cm) wide pieces. Pat the lettuce completely dry.
• Place a wok or medium skillet over medium-high heat for 1 minute. Carefully swirl in the oil. When the oil is shimmering hot but not yet smoking, add the garlic and then toss in the romaine lettuce in batches, stirring after each addition to coat the lettuce with oil before adding the next batch. This should take a total of about 2 minutes. The lettuce will have just begun to wilt.
• Add the soy sauce and sugar and give it a quick stir to coat the lettuce well. You want the lettuce to be almost tender yet still a little crisp and still bright green. Drizzle the sesame oil over the lettuce and immediately remove it from the heat.
• Move to a bowl and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Serve immediately.

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.

PANFRIED ROMAINE

Steps:

• Rinse romaine halves, then shake off water and pat dry.
• Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat until hot but not smoking, then add 3 romaine halves, cut sides down, and sprinkle with a rounded 1/4 teaspoon sea salt.
• Cook, turning over once with tongs, until browned, about 2 minutes total, then cover and cook until just crisp-tender, 2 to 3 minutes more. Transfer to a platter.
• Cook remaining romaine halves in oil in 3 batches in same manner, transferring to platter. Cool to room temperature before serving.

STIR-FRIED LETTUCE

Steps:

• Peel apart the lettuce leaves and roughly tear them into smaller pieces. I usually just halve each leaf. Heat the oil in a wok or a large frying pan (metal woks, rather than non-stick, give a better flavour to this dish). Throw in the garlic and fry for 1 min until fragrant, then add the lettuce leaves - they will make a noisy sizzle.
• Add the oyster sauce and 100ml water. Fold in all the lettuce so that it is well coated. Add the white pepper. Cook all the leaves until they start to wilt but still have crunch.

SHRIMP AND ROMAINE STIR-FRY

Steps:

• Make sauce:
• Stir together all sauce ingredients in a small bowl.
• Make stir-fry:
• Heat oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then stir-fry garlic and ginger until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add shrimp and stir-fry until almost cooked through, about 3 minutes. Add half of romaine and stir-fry until it begins to wilt, then add remaining romaine and stir-fry until just wilted and shrimp are just cooked through, about 1 minute. Stir sauce, then add to stir-fry and simmer, stirring, 2 minutes.

STIR-FRIED LETTUCE

Steps:

• Wash and dry lettuce. Tear or cut into pieces a bit bigger than bite sized. Separate leaves and dicard core.
• In a small bowl mix soy sauce, sesame oil and sugar. Set aside.
• Place 14 inch wok or 12 inch frying pan on medium-high heat. When hot, add the salad oil and garlic. Stir fry until the garlic begins to take a little color.
• Add lettuce and stir fry until slightly limp but still somewhat crisp.
• Stir in the soy sauce mixture and toss well. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
• Serve at once.

STIR-FRIED LETTUCE WITH SEARED TOFU AND RED PEPPER

Steps:

• Mix together the rice wine or sherry, the broth or water and 2 teaspoons of the soy sauce and set aside.
• Heat a 14-inch flat-bottomed wok or 12-inch steel skillet over high heat until a drop of water evaporates within a second or two when added to the pan. Swirl in 1 tablespoon of the oil by adding it to the sides of the pan and swirling the pan, then add the tofu and stir-fry until golden brown. Add the remaining soy sauce, toss together and transfer the tofu to a plate.
• Swirl in the remaining oil and add the ginger, garlic and chili pepper and stir-fry for no more than 10 seconds. Add the red pepper and stir-fry for 1 minute, then add the lettuce and sprinkle on the salt. Stir-fry for 1 minute, until the lettuce has begun to wilt. Add the rice wine mixture, cook 15 to 30 seconds, until the lettuce is bright and crisp tender, stir in the cilantro and remove from the heat. Serve with rice or noodles.