Gai Lan with Garlic

Name: Gai Lan with Garlic
Yield: 2
Cuisine: Caribbean
Ingredients: ½ bunch gai lan; 2 tablespoons vegetable oil; 1 clove garlic, crushed; Salt flakes, to taste

Chef Paul Carmichael taught me this way of preparing gai lan (also known as Chinese broccoli). It makes an easy side dish to serve with almost anything, from Caribbean escovitch (see video below) to an Asian curry or grilled steak. You can steam the gai lan in advance to ensure the stems are tender, then it’s really quick to reheat and toss with the garlic when you’re ready to serve. Use this recipe for inspiration to stir-fry any leafy greens including English spinach, bok choy, choy sum, water spinach and wombok; if they don’t have thick stems you can skip the steaming step and just toss them in a wok or frying pan with the oil and garlic. If you aren’t set up to steam, you can blanch them by plunging into boiling salted water for 60 seconds or so. This stir-fried gai lan with garlic is extra delicious with a glass of Aussie riesling, especially Orlando Steingarten with a few years’ bottle age.

Serves 2

Ingredients

½ bunch gai lan
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 clove garlic, crushed
Salt flakes, to taste

Method

Separate gai lan leaves, cutting large ones in half through the stem.
Finely slice remaining stems.
Steam for a few minutes, until stems are just tender.
Plunge into iced water to cool, then set aside to drain.
When ready to serve, heat oil in a frying pan over medium heat, add garlic, gai lan and a good sprinkling of salt and stir for a minute or 2 until heated through.