Underrated but healthy and delicious radish green or turnip green stir fry with a typical Sichuan style dark green stir fry. Radish and turnip had been our most important and favorite food during my childhood when we can only eat vegetables in our back yard. They can survive well in cold winter days.
In the past days, we believe radish green was quite delicious. However, it slowly disappears on Chinese market and Chinese table during to the modernized agriculture. During our last visit to my grandma, I bought back a large bag of turnip greens and find those good food memories in my own kitchen. So if you grown turnip or radish at home, please do not throw them always.
One reason why radish green disappears on Chinese table is because it has obvious disadvantages comparing with other common dark leafy green like Bok Choy or Lettuce leaves. The first one is the strong “mustard like” raw taste. I believe this is not the right word but it is quite hard to describe. And the second one is it is not smooth at all. It has a very rough texture if cooked directly.
But we have tips to solve those problem. 1. Blanch the leaves in boiling water can help to remove the raw taste. Then the dish is flavored with chili peppers and garlic. 2. Adding starch can make them smooth.
Ingredients
- 300g radish green or turnip green
- ½ tsp. salt
- 3-4 chili peppers
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- 2 tbsp. Chinese cooking oil
- 1 tbsp. corns starch
- 2 tbsp. water
Instructions
Remove the hard ends of radish green. Place the green in a large pot of boiling water with a small pinch of salt. Cook for 1-2 minutes.
Transfer out and slightly drain. Then finely chopped. Place garlic on top of the chopped greens.
Heat around 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil and heat dried chili pepper until the pepper becomes dark red. Add garlic and chopped green in. Add salt.
Stir the water starch and pour in. Mix well and serve hot!
🧾Recipe
Radish Green/Turnip Green Stir Fry
Ingredients
- 300 g radish green or turnip green
- ½ tsp. salt
- 3-4 chili peppers
- 2 garlic cloves chopped
- 2 tbsp. Chinese cooking oil
- 1 tbsp. corns starch
- 2 tbsp. water
Instructions
- Remove the hard ends of radish green. Place the green in a large pot of boiling water with a small pinch of salt. Cook for 1-2 minutes.
- Transfer out and slightly drain. Then finely chopped.
- Heat around 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil and heat dried chili pepper until the pepper becomes dark red. Add garlic and chopped green in. Add salt.
- Stir the water starch and pour in. Mix well and serve hot!
Nutrition
Hally
What can this dish be served with ?
K.B.W. Russell
Hello, thank you for posting this recipe! I am in the USA, in a region where few, if any of the popular Chinese greens are found in supermarkets. However, it's easy to find turnip greens, kale (无头甘蓝), collard greens (芥蓝菜叶), and beet greens (红菜头叶), as well as curly mustard. I tried cooking turnip greens for the first time, in a Chinese style, blanching and slicing first just as you did, and it was so good I did an internet search to find more recipes. Glad that I found your website!. It is very interesting to read the explanation about turnip greens falling out of popularity in China. They were so good I will be cooking them again. Do people ever combine scrambled egg with greens like this?