Recipe: Mushrooms and Baby Bok Choy with Fried Garlic

Mushrooms and Baby Bok Choy
with Fried Garlic

Serves 4 as part of a multicourse meal

I can't get enough of mushrooms. With so many varieties and different textures and flavors I'm never bored. I use the common button mushroom, but once you taste this, you won't find those mushrooms so common.

The master chefs at Maple Pepper Garden Restaurant in Toronto taught me to blanch the mushrooms before pan-frying them; it speeds up the cooking process once they hit the wok. If you can't find fried garlic in your local grocery, cut garlic cloves into paper-thin slices, drop into a pan of hot oil, and fry until golden brown. Drain and store in an airtight container—don't throw away that garlicky oil, use it in your next stir-fry.

Ingredients

3/4 pound button mushrooms
(each about 1-1/2 inches in diameter), trimmed
4 baby bok choy, halved lengthwise

FOR THE SEASONINGS
2 tablespoons Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
1 teaspoon oyster-flavored sauce
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon dark soy sauce

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon sesame oil

3 tablespoons prepared fried garlic

Instructions

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the mushrooms and cook for 2 minutes. With a slotted spoon or wire skimmer, scoop them into a colander. Rinse under cold water and drain again.

2. Add the bok choy to the boiling water and cook until tender-crisp, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Drain, rinse under cold water, and drain again.

3. Prepare the seasonings: Stir the rice wine, oyster-flavored sauce, soy sauce, and dark soy sauce together in a small bowl until blended.

4. Heat a wok over high heat until hot. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring, until their surface is dry. Remove the mushrooms from the wok.

5. Pour the vegetable oil into the wok and swirl to coat the sides. Add the garlic and stir-fry until fragrant, about 10 seconds. Return the mushrooms to the wok and pour in the seasonings. Stir-fry until the mushrooms are tender, 1-1/2 to 2 minutes. Add the sesame oil and bok choy and toss until the bok choy is heated through, about 30 seconds. Scoop the mushrooms onto a serving platter, surround with the bok choy, and scatter the fried garlic over the top.

Buy the Book!

from:
Martin Yan's Chinatown Cooking
200 Traditional Recipes from 11 Chinatowns Around the World
by Martin Yan
William Morrow / an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers
$34.95 / hardcover
Illustrated with 200 color photos
ISBN: 0060084758
Recipe reprinted by permission.