Mmmm, Chinese take-out. I came up with this recipe on the fly as a way to hold on to some delicious mustard greens that were wilting more quickly than I could consume them. T he result is a salad of wilted but still crisp greens, as if they had been just lightly steamed, in a sauce eerily reminiscent of Chinese take...
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Ingredients

4 cups Chinese greens (baby bok choy and mustard greens work great)
2 green onions
1 green garlic sprig (or 2 cloves garlic)
1/3 cup fresh wood ear mushrooms (optional)
3 tablespoons sesame oil
1½ tablespoons water
1½ tablespoons nama shoyu
Dash of agave nectar or honey
1 teaspoon kombucha or vinegar
Sprinkle of Chinese 5-spice powder
Cayenne pepper (optional)
White pepper (optional)

Recipe Directions

GREENS

1. Chop any hard, tough bits off the greens and discard.

2. Pack the greens tightly together. If they are of the long and leafy sort (like mustard greens), roll them neatly lengthwise, or twist tightly.

3. With a nice sharp knife, chop 1-inch segments, starting at the leafy tips and moving towards the base.

4 .Mince the green onions and green garlic (or garlic cloves) finely.

SAUCE

5. Whisk the liquid ingredients together until well blended. Careful with the sweetener—a tiny bit brings out the spices, but too much can easily become cloying.

6. Sprinkle in 5-spice powder, whisking as you go. Add cayenne and/or white pepper to taste.\

7. Roughly chop the wood ear mushrooms, if you have them.

8. Now just toss all the ingredients into a 1-litre jar and stir to mix. Try to get the liquid to cover all the greens. It won’t look as juicy when you first make it as it will when it’s ready—a lot of the liquid will be expressed from the greens themselves.

9. Refrigerate this overnight. And in the morning, whaddyaknow—leftover Chinese greens.

Nthmost's Thoughts

By nthmost

Mmmm, Chinese take-out.

I came up with this recipe on the fly as a way to hold on to some delicious mustard greens that were wilting more quickly than I could consume them. T

he result is a salad of wilted but still crisp greens, as if they had been just lightly steamed, in a sauce eerily reminiscent of Chinese take-out.

Perfect thing to pack for work, especially when you know your corporate lunch is going to be from PF Chang’s.

If you can get them (and if you’re okay with it digestively!), adding fresh wood ear mushrooms really adds heartiness and authenticity to this dish. You could also use shiitake!

By the way, while I’m pretty sure these amounts will produce tasty food, please take all measurements as guidelines; I rarely measure things when I make food for myself. Taste and test as you go.

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Comments

Top voted

suzyq

Jun 21, 2010

49 votes
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I just made this with a couple of changes--I added some fresh grated ginger, used dried red pepper flakes in place of the cayenne. Next time I'll use a little less oil and a little more salty something (but I didn't measure anything so I can't say for sure that the ratios in the recipe itself are off). The mushrooms totally make the dish, by the way. I also had this on a plate with some fresh corn...I wasn't planning on mixing them together, but the few kernels that strayed into my greens gave it an awesome sweet highlight.

spiritedmama

Jul 24, 2009

48 votes
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This sounds sooo good. I can't wait to try it!

nthmost

Sep 04, 2009

43 votes
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Yep, gross. Good thing I only eat quail or duck eggs from a local farm.

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suzyq

Jun 21, 2010

49 votes
+
Vote up!
-
Vote down!

I just made this with a couple of changes--I added some fresh grated ginger, used dried red pepper flakes in place of the cayenne. Next time I'll use a little less oil and a little more salty something (but I didn't measure anything so I can't say for sure that the ratios in the recipe itself are off). The mushrooms totally make the dish, by the way. I also had this on a plate with some fresh corn...I wasn't planning on mixing them together, but the few kernels that strayed into my greens gave it an awesome sweet highlight.

Top Voted

VIBRANCE

May 14, 2010

35 votes
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This is so delicious! Bok Choy is so tender, if you let it marinate for a while it tastes cooked. I made it for dinner and took the leftovers for lunch and it was sooooo good, even all of my extra carbohydrate, meat eating co workers loved it!

nthmost

Sep 04, 2009

43 votes
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Yep, gross. Good thing I only eat quail or duck eggs from a local farm.

Top Voted

lauraj

Sep 01, 2009

32 votes
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nthmost, please read this article and watch the video regarding the truth behind eggs.

http://www.goveg.com/factoryFarming_chickens_egg.asp

Alexa

Aug 08, 2009

33 votes
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I've eaten this recipe like three times within the past week. It's delicious, I love it! Sometimes I substitute one of the tablespoons of sesame oil with flax or olive oil, and once I used up all of my dried wood ear mushrooms I used other Asian varieties. Thanks so much for posting!

nthmost

Jul 24, 2009

33 votes
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I've been buying wood ear mushrooms for the past 2 weeks from Far West Fungi at the SF Ferry Building. They're always $2 a basket, pretty good deal. Not much to look at, but great chewy texture, and they soak up flavors well.

Here's some info on them: http://www.mykoweb.com/cookbook/ear.html

humanimal

Jul 24, 2009

33 votes
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hmmm wood ear mushroom? Not too familiar with that one.

nthmost

Jul 24, 2009

30 votes
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Addendum: At the risk of political incorrectness, I should mention that gently stirring in a raw egg (or 2 or 3 raw quail eggs) right before eating this makes this food taste like stir fry, and of course increases the total heartiness of the meal.

To achieve the same effect, you could also try adding some kind of nut or seed and vegetable pate. I believe Alissa Cohen has a number of egg-simulating recipes involving cashews, cauliflower, zucchini, things like that. I'd be partial to something involving pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds, since those are cheaper and much easier on my digestive system. Let me know what you come up with!

spiritedmama

Jul 24, 2009

32 votes
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This sounds sooo good. I can't wait to try it!

spiritedmama

Jul 24, 2009

48 votes
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This sounds sooo good. I can't wait to try it!

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