Think Chinese food. What do you picture ? Dumplings, fried rice, stir-fried meats, am I right ?

How we see Chinese food, with indulging and quite greasy overall meals, couldn’t be further from the truth. A traditional Chinese meal would usually include a bowl of rice, a soup, a small portion of meat or fish, and a side of greens.

In our busy daily lives, a quick side of greens with a bowl of rice is already a good enough meal in my book ! Here, I offer you You Cai, or Choy Sum, also known as rapeseed or Chinese rapeseed, a leafy green vegetable popular in Chinese cuisine. It has a tender texture and a slightly bitter, mustard-like flavor.

Simply stir-fry it in a hot wok (or a pan !) with a bit of soy sauce and oyster sauce, some lovely garlic, and call it a day ! You can use veggie oyster sauce (mushroom oyster sauce) to make it vegan.

Garlic You Cai – Recipe

Ingredients – Where to find them

I’d advise you to an Asian store with a decent fresh veggies section in order to find some You Cai, which should look like this :

I know I can easily find eat all year long, usually next to other Chinese greens such as Gai Lan (the more popular Chinese broccoli).

Recipe – Advice & key points

• Simply use veggie oyster sauce (mushroom oyster sauce) to make it vegan.
• Make sure not to burn or overcook your You Cai, or it’d get bitter.  
• If you don’t own a seasoned carbon-steel wok and only have a nonstick wok or nonstick pan, it’s OK. You’ll just have to preheat it well for a few minutes ; also use 1/2 the amount of oil indicated ; and cook the ingredients a bit longer, if needed.
• This recipe yields enough fried rice for 2 portions as mains, and 4 portions as sides with other Chinese dishes such as dumplings, stir-fried meats/rices, etc.

All set ? Let’s stir-fry those greens !

Print Recipe

Garlic You Cai

Author: Multicarbs Cooking Method: Pan-frying Cuisine: Asian cuisines, Chinese cuisine Courses: Main dish, Side dish Recipe Keys: Sans Gluten Sans maïs Sans œufs V Vegetarian

Difficulty: Beginner Prep Time 10 min Cook Time 5 min Total Time 15 mins

Servings: 2

Best Season: Suitable throughout the year

Description

Simple, quick-as-hell stir-fried greens ; perfect alongside some white rice as a light and efficient meal -or as a side to a more elaborate meal. 

Ingredients

Servings

• 450 grams yóu cài
• 2 tablespoons neutral oil

For the sauce

• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
• 2 tablespoons water
• 4 garlic cloves (minced)
• ¹⁄₄ teaspoon white pepper

Instructions

1. Prep your ingredients

   Mince your garlic. 

   After washing your you cai, remove yellow or damaged leaves if any.

   If the stems are quite large, cut around 2cm starting from the bottom of the root, so as to remove the thickest parts. If the stems are shorter, simply remove the very bottom part (a few milimeters).

2. Make the sauce

   In a small bowl, combine soy sauce, oyster sauce, water, garlic and white pepper. 

3. Stir-fry time !

   Put your wok on medium-high heat. Add neutral oil.

   Add the you cai. Keep cooking while stirring regularly for about 2 minutes, until the leaves are quite wilted.

   Push the you cai away from the center of the wok. Stir the sauce and add it to the center. Let it cook one minute, then mix it with the choy sum. Cook 1 last minute ; taste and add salt if needed. 

   Et voilà !! You're done !

Keywords: home made, Garlic You Cai, Chinese greens, side dish, healthy, authentic Chinese food, soy sauce