98. A contemporary Chinese broccoli recipe: steamed broccoli (V)

Chinese broccoli recipe

My love towards broccoli actually only started in very recent years.  Well, broccoli was only introduced in northern Chinese cuisine less than twenty years ago anyway.

But if I tell you this, you are going to laugh. It all started the time -- you know, the time you begin to think if you will be getting old one day, and if there is anything that could help slowing down aging. :)) So I just happened to read this article about vegetables with anti-aging properties, and broccoli came up on the top of the list; in contrast, potato was described as a vegetable that speeds up the aging process. So, what happened next --- needless to say, for a very long time, I cut of potato from my diet, and had lots of broccoli and avocado. -- Did it help with aging really? Ha… probably. But age is a thing that nobody can revert, and we just treasure this round we could come to experience life in this world. Oh, I did come back to potato as I really couldn’t resist it.

You know that for getting the most out of broccoli, you should either steam it, briefly boil it or stir-fry it. I learned this recipe when I went back home with my parents, my dad made it, he said this was a new recipe super popular in the restaurant nowadays.


It is actually fairly simple, just steam the broccoli, then pour the mix of salt and light soy sauce on the top. -- But I did find it was a bit too plain, especially it was a bit difficult to spread the salt and light soy sauce evenly on the broccoli.

Oh, about the steaming, normally, it is just cutting off the ‘root’ part and make the rest of it as a whole sit in a plate like a ‘flower’. When serving, use the knife to cut into desired pieces.

Do you want to try my version of it? :)) Hope you like it, here it goes.

Ingredients:

A whole broccoli

Ginger, garlic, salt, cooking wine, light soy sauce, oil

Preparation:

1) Chop a good size of ginger and around 3-4 gloves garlic into slices.

2) Wash the broccoli well, get rid of the button ‘root’, if you like, you can separate it into small pieces.

Cooking:

1) Place the broccoli into a plate, and put half of chopped ginger and garlic on top of the broccoli evenly.

2) Steam the broccoli in full fire for around 15 minutes.

3) Meanwhile, in a heated wok, add in around 1 tablespoon of oil, and the rest of the chopped ginger and garlic, 1 teaspoon of cooking wine, 1 1/2 tablespoon of light soy sauce, and 2/3 teaspoon of salt, 1/4 cup of water.

4) When the sauce is boiling, turn off the fire, pour it over steamed broccoli.

---- Done!!

It is super easy, no? And healthy! :) Don't over steam the broccoli, so you can still taste the crispiness and original juice of the broccoli, but don't make it totally raw either.

I like to have it with plain boiled rice, so you can have a better taste of the light broccoli.