Introduction: How to Stir-Fry Choy Sum Vegetable (Yu Choy)

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About: I like making different types of foods from all around the world! Check out my youtube channel too.

Got a stir fry video for you today. I'm going to show you how to stir fry Choy Sum also called Yu Choy.

The literal translation of Choy Sum is "vegetable heart" in Cantonese. It's a green leafy vegetable full of vitamins and fiber. While nutritional benefits in my opinion are good, the main reason for eating it is it tastes awesome. It has a light delicate texture with sweet notes.

This recipe is vegan friendly too, for those of you who are looking for another recipe to add to your collection.

I'll show you how to make this taste like it was cooked in a Chinese restaurant. The flavor comes from the cooking technique as there are very few ingredients in this recipe.

Also check out my Instructable on how to make a Wok Station, if you want to take your stir-frys to the next level. https://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-a-Sta...

Step 1: Video

Step 2: Ingredients ​

There are not many ingredients in this dish as the taste all mostly comes from the cooking technique.

You will need:

  • Choy Sum or Yu Choy
  • 6 or more Cloves of Garlic
  • Salt
  • White pepper
  • Boiling Water

Step 3: Method

Preparation

  • So first thing is wash the choy sum, discard any yellow leafs. I'm using about 10 stalks.
  • Cut into bite size pieces and let it soak in cold water. The choy sum can be wilted when you get it so, soaking it for an hour will bring it back to life.
  • Strain the water from the choy sum.
  • Boil some water pour the boiling water over the choy sum. This is a reverse parboil that partially cooks the choy sum before stir frying. Drain after 1 minute, you want to just wilt the leaves, makes stir frying much easier.

  • Smash some garlic, you want the garlic in remain in mostly large pieces so they don't burn because we will be cooking over high heat.

  • I'm adding the garlic and 3/4 teaspoon of salt and some white pepper to the wilted choy sum ahead of time because I will be cooking on my wok station that is high powered but if you are cooking on a home stove you can add the seasoning as you stir-fry. This is just to save me some time.

Stir-Frying

  • Heat up some vegetable oil over high heat, I like canola oil as it has a very neutral taste. You want your wok to be scorching hot, things will get smoky and this whole cook should only take a few minutes. We have already partly cooked the choy sum, we are just building flavors at this point by cooking in hot oil.
  • Once the oil starts smoking, add the choy sum and stir, make sure to keep things moving. The wok should have a loud cracking sound the whole time as you are stir frying. Stir for 2 minutes, this will depend on how powerful your stove is.
  • Add a bit of water and reduce heat let cook for about a minute, if necessary cover to help speed up the cooking.
  • You don't have to have a high power wok station like this to make good stir fry, just remember to preheat your wok and cook in small batches.
  • It helps to have a wok that has some mass to help with heat retention too.
  • Plate and serve as part of a meal!