Oyster Sauce Lettuce (Hao You Sheng Cai)

The story

Chinese cooking treats iceberg and romaine as a proper cooked vegetable, not just salad filler. Blanched for one minute and dressed with warm oyster sauce, lettuce becomes silky, sweet and a little smoky.

Ingredients (3 + pantry staples)

• Romaine or iceberg lettuce — 1 head, in large pieces
• Oyster sauce — 2 tbsp
• Garlic — 2 cloves, minced

Pantry staples used (don't count toward the 6): salt, cooking oil, sugar (pinch). Not stocked yet? See the pantry page.

Steps

1. Blanch lettuce in salted boiling water for 45–60 seconds. Drain well.
2. Fry garlic in 1 tbsp oil for 20 seconds, add oyster sauce, 2 tbsp water and the sugar; warm through.
3. Pour over the lettuce. Serve immediately.

Swaps

This exact sauce works on blanched broccoli, cabbage wedges or frozen edamame.