It comes by way of Grace Young's lovely cookbook, The Breath of a Wok, which my husband gave me as a gift after we returned from a trip to Southeast Asia what feels like a lifetime ago (we were so young...)
I've been making Auntie Yi's Stir-Fried Garlic Spinach ever since. It's so easy that I always feel a little like I'm cheating somehow. The seasoning is incredibly simple - a tablespoon of rice mirin mixed with equal parts sugar and salt.
There are just two things that you need to do to make this a truly stand-out dish:
1. Use really fresh, flavorful spinach - it makes a huge difference in the taste.
2. Get your wok (or wide, flat-bottomed pan if you don't have a wok) really, really hot and don't crowd the spinach. If you want to make more than one bunch of spinach, do it in two batches to ensure you can really stir-fry it effectively.
When I saw the first spinach of the season from Taliaferro Farms in the produce section of my health food store last week, looking all gorgeous and tender and a practically radioactive shade of green that only occurs in the spring, I knew this would be on the menu.
A little washing and drying, chopping, mixing and stir-frying and BOOM, we were in business.
As always, it was SO GOOD!
Stir-Fried Garlic Spinach minimally adapted from Grace Young's excellent book The Breath of a Wok
Serves 4 as a side
Ingredients
* 2 Tbsp vegetable or peanut oil
* 1 Tbsp minced garlic
* 1 bunch fresh spinach (about 10 ounces)
* 1/2 tsp sea salt
* 1/2 tsp cane sugar
* 1 Tbsp rice mirin or dry sherry
* 1-2 tsps toasted sesame seeds (optional)
Directions
1. Heat a 14-inch flat bottomed wok over high heat until a bead of water vaporizes within 1 to 2 seconds of contact. Swirl in the oil, add the garlic and stir-fry for 10 seconds.
2. Add all the spinach and stir-fry for 10 seconds.
3. Add the salt, sugar and rice wine and stir-fry for 1-2 minutes or until the spinach is just tender but still bright green. Garnish with the sesame seeds (if you like them, that is) and serve.
You might also like:
- Curried Quinoa Cakes with Spinach
- Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing & Caramelized Onions
- Grilled Asparagus with Sesame-Soy-Garlic Marinade
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2 comments:
I love this recipe too! It made me curious about Auntie Yi, but I can't find any information about this person. Do you know anything about her? Thank you!
I'm afraid I don't but Grace Young is very responsive on Facebook - you could try reaching out to her there - https://www.facebook.com/grace.young.92
All the best,
Eve
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