How to select fresh Chinese Broccoli
My parents get into a lot of detail in our video's Meal Time section, but we're looking for a few cues:
- The stem should be a light, fresh color
- The stem should easily snap in half
- The leaves should be a deeper green
- The flowers buds, if any, should be green (not yellow)
How to store Chinese Broccoli
When you get home from the store, line some trays with paper towels and lay each piece across the trays for 4-5 hours.
Poke a few holes in a plastic bag, loosely wrap the paper towels around the gai lan, and place them in the bag.
Store the bag in a vegetable compartment if you have one.
Alternatives to Oyster Sauce
If you're vegetarian or need to stay away from gluten, we have three alternatives for you!
Vegetarian Oyster Sauce
Since oyster sauce is made out of oyster extract, here are some alternatives that have a similar taste without using the actual oyster:
Gluten Free Oyster Sauce
Wok Mei has a gluten-free oyster sauce, but it still contains oyster extract, so it's not vegetarian friendly.
Vegetarian + Gluten Free Oyster Sauce
Unfortunately, we don't know of a vendor that sells an oyster sauce that caters to both dietary restrictions, so you'll need to DIY the sauce.
Mix equal parts gluten free soy sauce and gluten free hoisin sauce. This isn't exactly the same as oyster sauce, but it's pretty close.
Finding Asian Ingredients
Some of these ingredients are hard to find in a typical grocery store.
If you don't live near an Asian market, most or all of what my dad uses in this recipe can be found on Amazon:
I've also included some other Chinese kitchen essentials, used in many of my dad's other recipes.
These links are affiliate links, which means that if you use our links to purchase these ingredients, Amazon pays my family a small amount for the sale - at no extra cost to you. If you use these links, we really appreciate the support!