Saturday, August 15, 2009

Gai Lan



I purchased gai lan at the farmers market in Atlanta, as part of my goal to try new and exotic greens. Of course, once I tasted it, I realized that I probably have had it before in Thai restaurants.

Gai lan, also called Chinese broccoli or Chinese kale, is much more bitter than broccoli although, like like lots of other types of produce, selecting the perfect bunch of Gai Lan, is apparently an art form (that I have not yet mastered).

I sauteed my gai lan with ground pork and served over rice noodles, and seasoned with mushroom soy sauce. This has a different flavor than regular soy sauce although I don't know if I would describe it as mushroomy. I do like it though and have been putting it on everything lately. I added a few hot peppers for color. And because I bought way to many to eat in one lifetime, so am trying to find ways to use them up.


2 comments:

SheR. said...

Hi!
The traditional way of serving Kai Lan is with a drizzle of Oyster Sauce and fried shallots.

Choose vegetables with smaller stalks as the older ones tend to be too chewy. The bitterness according to certain sources comes from insecticide. So wash your vegetables well!

There's a similar looking vegetable to Kai Lan. It is called Choi Sam. You might want to try it!

DineometerDeb said...

Thanks for the info Sher. That was both enlightening and a little frightening (about the pesticides).