CEimB: Sesame Stir-Fried Chinese Greens

It was my recipe pick this Thursday for cooking with my CEimB friends.  We use  Ellie Krieger’s book: “The Food You Crave. Luscious Recipes for a Healthy Life”.  I sincerely hope everyone enjoyed this recipe for taste as well as for ease of preparation.

This week’s recipe was Sesame Stir-Fried Chinese Greens on page 258 and, as quoted from the book “…. mild yet flavorful, tender yet nicely crisp.  The distinctively rich toasted sesame oil and a finishing sprinkle of sesame seeds give it a luxurious touch.”

I chose this recipe for a couple of reasons:  1.  Most of us had sesame seeds, low-sodium soy sauce and rice wine vinegar on hand from a recipe we all did a couple of weeks ago (see “Sesame-Teriyaki Chicken Thighs“) and 2. It’s a side dish and I was curious as to what everyone’s main dish would be to pair this with (nosey me!).

This is the recipe as written in the book:

• 1 TBS sesame seeds
• 2 tsp canola oil
• 2 lbs bok choy or napa cabbage, cut across into 1″ wide strips
• 2 TBS low-sodium soy sauce
• 1 TBS rice wine vinegar
• 2 tsp toasted sesame oil

Toast the sesame seeds in a small dry skillet over med-hi heat until golden, about 2 min, stirring frequently.  Set aside.  In a wok or lg. skillet, heat oil over hi heat until very hot but not smoking. Add bok choy or cabbage and stir-fry until it begins to soften slightly, 1 – 2 min.  Add the soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil and cook until just done, 1-2 min. longer. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve immediately.

My ingredients for tonights dish:

...and the all star cast is.....

The only change to ingredients I made was the low sodium soy sauce – which I DID NOT have on hand.  I used what I DID have which was “Shoyu Soy Sauce”.  This is a very salty soy sauce. …”traditionally brewed“.  If you suffer from wheat intolerance, this is not for you. It contains Water, Whole Soybeans, Whole Wheat, Sea Salt, Koji.

Just what is Koji?
Koji is steamed rice that has had koji-kin, or koji mold spores, cultivated onto it. … This magical mold, for which the official scientific name is Aspergillus Oryzae, creates several enzymes as it propagates, and these are what break  the starches in rice into sugars that can  be fermented by the yeast cells, which then give off carbon dioxide and alcohol. Without koji, there is no sake. For what it is worth, sake is not the  only beverage in the world using koji. There are a couple of others throughout Asia. But the brewing methodologies are vastly different.

The recipe was so incredibly easy it shouldn’t have tasted as good as it did.  The only draw back, depending on what your main course was, would be that it had to be served immediately.  Not sure what holding it on warm would have done to it? 

My main dish was grilled tuna (very simple: let 2 tuna steaks sit in lemon for 10 – 15 min., rub with 2-3 drops sesame oil -both sides, salt and pepper – both sides and cook on in door grill -high heat 2-3 min/side)…which I finished before starting the Bok Choy. 

The dinner was a complete success.  Another point scored to Ellie Krieger!  Thanks eveyone who cooked along! Hope you enjoyed.

Sesame Stir-Fried Chinese Greens with Grilled Tuna Steak

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