stir-fried water spinach
2 min readWater spinach, or tong choi, has little in common with ordinary spinach and in our opinion,is a much more exciting vegetable to eat. Tong choiis most adored for its stem: long tubes with thin walls (just like drinking straws)that remain crunchy when cooked. It can be a bit pricey at the Chinese supermarket, but if you spot some and have never had it before, we en-courage you to give it a try.
Serves 370g water spinach 2 tbsp vegetable oil 3 cloves garlic, quartered and smashed tsp granulated sugar 4 tsp salt add an exotic(see here) 3 cubes four yu (fermented bean curd), see also tip 1 If you are adding an exotic: mash the four yu into a paste in a small bowl and set aside.
2 Rinse the water spinach thoroughly then cut into 8cm lengths. Leave to air-dry in a colander for up to 30 minutes if you have the time.
3 Heat the oil in a wok or in a large frying pan over a high heat and cook the garlic for about 20 sec-onds. Add the water spinach and stir-fry for 2 minutes until the leaves have just started to wilt.
4 Add the sugar and salt or four yu paste, if using, and stir-fry for 1 minute until the stalks are just cooked but still very crunchy. Serve immediately.
Four yu(fermented beancurd)is salty on its own so if you are using it in the recipe, omit the salt. It also works well in stir-fries with other leafy green vegetables, such as choi sum or spinach, but not with vegeta-bles that have a high water content, such as pak choi.
