San Choy BowL

Method

1. Begin by preparing your mushrooms. Simply boil the kettle, fill a mug with hot water, and steep the mushroom stems and skins in the mug until ready to use 🤗. (Tip: You can bump up the flavour by adding some dried shiitake, if you have them on hand). Continue preparing the remaining ingredients for a quick and easy cook. Really, the chopping and prep work takes up most of the cook time ☺️(Note: the ‘+’ in the ingredient list denotes ingredients also used in the accompanying greens!)
2. Next, begin the cook by preparing your steamed rice as per packet instructions (if cooking your own). We use a rice cooker and a 1:1.5 ratio. Always rinse your rice 3 times for optimal results 🍚. While we tend to use long grain white or basmati, feel free to use your preferred grain!
3. Once all of your ingredients are prepped and the rice is cooking, you are ready to cook! Start by slowly combining the first quantities of potato starch and mushroom broth to help the two emulsify without lumps. Then, add the remaining sauce ingredients. (For the san choy bow base, this is the first quantity of light soy sauce, dark soy, Lee Kum Kee Oyster Sauce, shaoxing, sesame oil and sugar). For the Gai Lan (Chinese broccoli), combine remaining quantities of the potato starch, mushroom broth, Lee Kum Kee Oyster Sauce, shaoxing, light soy, sugar, sesame oil and the second quantities of garlic and ginger 🫚 🧄 🥬. You can simply add these ingredients in a small pot and put it on a low heat when you are ready to cook your Sam choy bow ☺️
4. In a large skillet (for this quantity, it provides more even and easier cooking than a wok), bring the heat up to high with about 1-2tbsp of neutral, high smoke point oil. (We use grapeseed, thought peanut is more traditional). At this stage, turn the heat on low on a small burner and let the Gai Lan Sauce come together. Intermittently stirring every now and then as the San Choy Bow cooks. Stir fry the 2 tsp of minced ginger, and 2 cloves minced garlic until fragrant. Then, add the onion and carrot 🥕
5. Once the onion is translucent, add the chicken mince. Allow the outside to brown and colour a little before adding the water chestnuts, mushrooms and baby corn to the pan. Stir to combine and follow with the San Choy Bow sauce mixture.
6. This will need to cook for a couple of minutes to allow the sauce to all come together and thicken. While this is happening, I use this time to blanch my Gai Lan in a pot of salted water. Pop the stems in for about a minute, before adding the leaves for another 30 seconds or until bright green. Strain in a colander and allow to sit while you add the tofu to the San Choy Bow pan, gently stirring or folding it it.
7. Check your Gai Lan sauce texture - making sure everything is glossy and combined. If needed, you can add a little water or extra potato starch. Once you are happy with your texture, simply add your Gai Lan to the pot it is in, stirring to coat.
8. Just like that, you’re ready to serve! To plate, divide your rice into two shallow bowls. I like to add a serve of san choy bow mix to one side, and the gai lan on the other. My husband and I LOVE the combination of roasted chopped peanuts with flaky salt and chilli oil 🌶️ and so I generously top the centre of the bowl with this, before finishing with slices of spring onion. The best thing about this recipe is that it was brought about when working out the best way to use up leftover san choy bow mix when you are out of lettuce! The san choy bow in this recipe is for a double batch, making it perfect for mid week. It is the sort of dish that somehow only gets better when you have it the next day. You can either have it this way on night one, reserving half of the san choy bow mix for the next day to have in lettuce cups, or do the reverse. Overall, I’m super proud of this recipe and it is not lost on me that I use the key ingredient in two elements 🤗