Tagu Choy with Dried Shrimp (蝦米塌古菜, Haa1 Mai5 Taap3 Gu2 Coi3)

Tagu choy (sometimes called taku choy) is a long stemmed vegetable available at your local Asian market. It makes a good change of pace from using another Asian leafy vegetable in a stir fry. If tagu choy is not available, you can substitute any Asian leafy vegetable in its place. Dried shrimp always adds a good flavor to vegetable dishes and, if desired, the rehydration liquid adds flavor to the sauce.

Enjoy!

Ingredients

1 oz.	30 g.	Dried shrimp (蝦米, haa1 mai5), rehydrated – about ⅓ of a package
1 lb.	500 g.	Tagu choy (塌古菜, taap3 gu2 coi3), cut into 2-inch (5 cm.) pieces
½ in.	15 mm.	Knob of ginger (薑, goeng1), crushed in a garlic press
2 cloves	2 cloves	Garlic (蒜, syun3), crushed in a garlic press
		Oil for cooking

 

Sauce Ingredients

1 Tbs.	15 ml.	Dark soy sauce (老抽, lou5 cau1)
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Soy sauce (豉油, si6 jau4)
1 Tbs.	15 ml.	Hoisin sauce (海鮮醬, hoi2 sin1 zoeng3)
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Shaoxing rice wine (紹興酒, siu6 hing1 zau2) or dry sherry
½ tsp.	2.5 ml.	Ground white pepper (白胡椒, baak6 wu4 ziu1)
1 tsp.	5 ml.	Sesame oil (麻油, maa4 jau4)

 

Equipment

14 in.	35.5 cm.	Wok or pan

Dried Shrimp (蝦米, haa1 mai5)

 

Preparation Instructions

1. Pour boiling water over the dried shrimp in a heat proof bowl and rehydrate the shrimp for at least one hour. Remove the shrimp from the rehydration liquid and reserve the rehydration liquid for later use in the cooking process.
2. Wash and cut the tagu choy into 2-inch (5 cm.) pieces.
3. Crush the ginger and garlic in a garlic press and put into a small bowl.
4. Prepare and mix the sauce in a small bowl: add the dark soy sauce, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry, ground white pepper, and sesame oil.

Cooking Instructions

1. Heat a wok or pan over high heat and before adding oil. Add the shrimp to the wok in a single layer on the bottom and brown the outside. Set the shrimp aside in a bowl.
2. Reheat the wok over high heat before adding oil and then the bowl with the ginger and garlic. Quickly stir fry the ginger and garlic until fragrant before adding more oil and then the tagu choy. Add some of the shrimp rehydration liquid to facilitate heat transfer and stir fry the tagu choy. Add the contents of the bowl with the shrimp back into the wok and stir fry all the ingredients together.
3. Add the sauce ingredients to the wok and stir fry the ingredients together. If more sauce is desired, add some of the shrimp rehydration liquid to the wok. Put the cooked ingredients into a serving dish and serve with steamed rice.