Stir-Fried Chinese Greens

I’ve always found the diversity and range of Chinese greens to be vastly superior to Western greens, and it continues to surprise me how few of them are available outside of Asian markets, especially when the preparation for almost all of them is as simple as a stir-fry. Some of my favorites include morning glory (also known as water spinach), snow pea shoots, sweet potato leaves, and Malabar spinach. The Chinese even stir-fry iceberg lettuce, and trust me, it is delicious. The most basic cooking style is stir-frying, usually with ginger and garlic, done quickly over high heat in a wok, so that the vegetables are cooked through but remain bright green in color. You can also blanch and serve the greens with oyster sauce, which generally works better on vegetables with heartier stems such as bok choy and gai lan. Another way to consume these greens is in broth. I love dipping leafy greens into my hot pot or adding them to congee. Vegetables like chrysanthemum greens and red amaranth work especially well here. The recipe below is for a simple stir-fry. I love the umami that fish sauce adds, but you can omit it for a vegan version.

This recipe was excerpted from ‘The Book of Sichuan Chili Crisp’ by Jing Gao. Buy the full book on Amazon.