When I’m in a hurry or just plain lazy, I fry vegetables that are easy to prep and clean. These include broccoli, asparagus, zucchini, and brussel sprouts, and string beans, snap and sugar peas. I don’t just cook these veggies for Chinese meals. I serve it with western cooking as well.
Trimming asparagus takes no time at all. To see how I trim asparagus quickly, click here. Removing the string off beans and snap and sugar peas can be laborious but I rather not chew into stringy vegetables.
Still, compared to most leafy vegetables like gailan, Shanghai bai cai, and choy sum, these “western” vegetables are a cinch to clean. Triple washed spinach is also great for busy cooks.
Blanch first
Before frying, I also blanch my vegetables if they are chunky like broccoli, broccolini and asparagus, or leafy with thick stems like gailan and choy sum. This takes very little extra work because I use the same pan for boiling and frying.
When I have dinner guests I can blanch them ahead of time and allow the vegetable to drain well. Then it takes only a couple of minutes to fry the vegetable in hot oil, garlic and seasoning, giving it a nice, sauteed flavor that is much tastier than boiled vegetables. Make sure vegetable is properly drained so that moisture is not added to ruin the stir fry.
My recipe for Quick Stir Fried Vegetables, click here.
Stir Fry Asparagus
Serves 4-6
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
1 pound asparagus, trimmed and slice into 2 inch pieces
2 tablespoons oil
2 cloves garlic, finely sliced
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
2 teaspoon salt
In a wok or frying pan, heat 2-3 quarts water. When boiling, add asparagus and blanch for 2 minutes, until asparagus is tender but still crisp. Drain asparagus in colander and dry wok.
Heat wok, add oil and when oil is shimmering, add garlic. Fry two seconds. Add asparagus and toss vegetables well so that all the veggies touch the surface of the hot pan.
Lower heat, add oyster sauce and salt and toss to mix well, about 1 minute. Transfer to serving dish.
NOTES
–Make sure blanched vegetables are well drained before frying.
–It’s always better to not overload the stir fry. If you are cooking more than a pound of vegetables, fry in two batches to get a better flavoring. Even the professional cooks, with their huge woks, stir fry in small portions. That way all the contents in the wok is singed by the hot pan.
–Also, when tossing the vegetables, scoop the vegetables from the bottom of the wok, up to the top, also so that all the vegetables are fried.
Variations
Change Ingredients
–Instead of asparagus, use broccoli, broccolini, string beans, snap and sugar peas. Blanch before frying.
Change seasoning
–Instead of oyster sauce, use salt and pepper.
–Instead of oyster sauce, splash come chicken stock. Add salt to taste.
