Sai choy broccolini with fried rice

I got leftover sai choy without choy sum, carrot, celery and bought broccolini. My mom gave me some of her cooked rice. My green beans looks like it won’t last for another few days. Best use it before it goes soggy. I have written down the sai choy original recipe below. I just scoop the amount I wanted and heat up in microwave. I cook fried rice and broccolini.

Fried rice is an important Chinese meal that you can find in many Chinese restaurants all over the world. Traditional Chinese fried rice recipe calls for Chinese sausage or lup cheong, vegetables, eggs, overnight rice and soy sauce. The ingredients are cooked over intense high heat in a Chinese wok, with the essential aromas from the wok hei or breathe of wok.

Sai choy is one special dish for Chinese New Year. It does have many different names for it. We always have this dish on Chinese New Year. Grandma used to be the one preparing this dish for us in Malaysia. My grandma makes her with a lot of ingredients. Some ingredients I cannot find here or not sold near me.

The main of this Sai choy is white cabbage. And I love it when the cabbage is braised till it’s soft and the gravy is sweetened with fermented beancurd and sauces. Also, cabbage cooked well actually soaks up the fragrance of the fermented beans and garlic too. There are also other different textures and flavours with a whole range of ingredients like wood ear fungus, dried mushrooms, glass noodle, black fungus and canned mushrooms. I change the recipe as I couldn’t find the shiitake mushrooms, and dried lily flower. I didn’t put ginger as it is too expensive. I have use red and white fermented cubes beancurd.

Addition to fried rice and sai choy, I am adding broccolini. My meal consists of something given, something leftover, and something new. It’s colourful, comforting, and delicious. Let’s cook!!!

Ingredients

Sai choy – Braised mixed colour vegetables

100 g glass noodles
1 1/2 Tbs minced garlic
600 g napa cabbage, cut into bite size
1 bunch choy sum, cut into bite size
10 pieces dried wood ear fungus, soak overnight, cut bite size, reserved water
1 packet bean curd sticks, break into pieces and soaked in hot water for about 30 minutes
1 canned straw mushrooms, about 425 g, drained water, cut in half
1 canned whole mushroom about 425 g, drained water, cut in half
2 red fermented cubed beancurd
2 white fermented cubed beancurd
2 Tbs Shaoxing Chinese wine
2 Tbs soy sauce
1 Tbs oyster sauce
2 Tsp sesame oil
2/3 c water reserved from dried wood ear fungus
extra water if needed

Fried rice vegetables with lup cheong

4-6 green beans, cut into bite size
3 c cooked overnight rice
2 Chinese lup cheong sausage, cut into bite size
2 eggs, beaten
1 medium carrots, cut into bite size
1 stalk celery, cut into bite size
1 small onion, finely diced
120 g frozen corn, thawed and drained
2 Tbs soy sauce
2 Tbs Shao Xing Chinese cooking wine
1 Tbs oyster sauce
1 Tbs fish sauce
3 Tsp minced garlic
2 Tsp sesame oil
1 Tsp diced ginger
oil
salt
white pepper

Broccolini

2 bunches, rinse in cold water, shake off extra water, cut to bite size
1 Tbs minced garlic
1/2 c water
oil
salt
pepper

Method

Do the Sai choy-Braised mixed colour vegetables first

Heat oil in wok on medium heat, add oil toss around for about 30 seconds without letting it burn. Next add in red and white fermented beancurd and break it up with wooden spoon. Add the garlic, soaked wood ear fungus, and stir fry for 2-3 minutes, to get fungus coated in fermented beancurd sauce.

Add the Shaoxing wine, 2/3 c reserved from dried wood ear and bring to boil. Next, add cabbage, bean curd sticks and choy sum; cook till softened for 4-5 minutes. Make sure it’s softened. Add other cut mushrooms, sesame oil, soy sauce, and oyster sauce. Toss to mix well, cover the wok, and reduce the heat to medium. Cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

If water runs dry, add more water about 1/2 cup. Let vegetables simmer for further 10 minutes. Before serving, soak glass vermicelli until softened, and mix into pot. Glass vermicelli absorbs liquid quickly, so if you add the noodles too early, they will bloat and there will be too little sauce left. Keep stirring. If you want to have extra sauce add another 1/2 cup of water. Spoon sai choy onto serving plate, and serve with rice and Char chee yoke sake and whiskey (Braised pork belly). Enjoy with a glass of white wine!!!!

Note: You can omit beancurd sticks and add lily flower. Or you can add carrots, baby sweet corns and snap peas like my friends did in their sai choy. You might want it more liquid, so add more stock or water. I didn’t add extra. You can put fried shallots, red dates, gingko or fried tofu. Or create your own flavour ingredients. You can use any green leaves vegetables, or box ready stock or cube packet stocks for more sauce. Once it had cool down, stored in airtight container in the freezer for 2-4 weeks provided it’s not wet by using dry clean spoon to scoop the amount you want to eat for the meal, label the name and date.

Next day cook the Fried rice vegetables with lup cheong

Heat 4 Tbs oil in a hot wok until surface seems to glitter slightly. Pour beaten eggs into wok and leave to cook on the base of the wok for 10 seconds before folding egg mixture over onto itself with a spatula and lightly scrambling for about one minute or until almost cooked through. Carefully remove eggs from wok with a spatula and drain on paper towel. Set aside.

Add 1 Tbs oil and sauté 1 Tsp garlic until fragrant. Add Chinese lup cheong sausage, stir and cook for about 2 minutes until soft. Remove and set aside. Heat wok on medium high heat and add 4 Tbs oil. When the oil is hot, add 1 Tsp garlic and fry until fragrant. Then add onion and ginger. Stir fry for 1 to 2 minutes, until it starts to brown and soften.

Then add carrots, celery, cook for 3 minutes. Next add green beans and season with some salt and pepper, then cook until the vegetables are soft, about 4 minutes. Now add rice, corn, sesame oil, fish sauce, soy sauce, oyster sauce, and eggs. Stir to combine well with all the ingredients and rice is heated through about 2 to 4 minutes.

Use spatula to break up eggs into smaller pieces while cooking about 1 minutes. Push the rice into the middle of the wok to let the edge of the wok heat up. After about 20 seconds, pour Shao Xing wine around the edge of the wok. Stir fry for another 20 seconds.

Adding the wine using this method gives the dish a little extra wok hei according to my grandma. At this point, taste the rice to see if it needs a little more salt, soy sauce, or white pepper and season accordingly. As soon as the rice becomes toasty. Switch off hob.

Cook the broccolini

Heat saucepan with 1 Tbs oil on medium heat. Once hot, add in minced garlic; cook toss around for 25 seconds. Next add in the broccolini. Cook until broccolini is bright green and some of the stems and tips of the florets are slightly tender, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the water, cover, and cook until broccolini is vibrant green and crisp-tender, 1 to 2 minutes. Serve immediately with fried rice, sai choy and a cold beer. Enjoy!!!

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