Lettuce with Oyster Sauce
蚝油生菜
Simple Cantonese dish of blanched lettuce drizzled with rich, savory oyster sauce and garlic. A light, healthy vegetable dish showcasing lettuce's crisp texture with umami-rich sauce coating.
Servings
2-3 people
Prep Time
5 minutes
Cook Time
10 minutes
Spice Level
Not Spicy
Ingredients
Instructions
Prepare 3 fresh lettuce heads (about 600g), remove each leaf and place in a basin for washing.
Don't scrub the lettuce too hard as it can easily break or damage. It's best to rinse each leaf in clean water.
After washing the lettuce clean, remove and drain the water for later use.
Prepare several garlic cloves, crush them and then chop finely for later use.
Add appropriate amount of clean water to a bowl (you can also use clear soup if available), add appropriate amount of oyster sauce (about 10g), appropriate amount of light soy sauce (about 5g), a little dark soy sauce for color, 1 spoon of white sugar (about 2g), a little MSG (about 0.5g), a little salt (about 0.5g), stir the sauce well for later use.
Add appropriate amount of clean water to the wok, bring to a boil over high heat, then add 1 spoon of salt (about 3g), and add a little vegetable oil to preserve color.
Then add the cleaned lettuce and blanch until just cooked, after the water boils again, remove and drain the water, arrange on a plate with chopsticks.
Pour the prepared sauce into the wok, turn to low heat and bring the sauce to a boil, after the sauce boils, remove the wok from heat, add a little starch to thicken the sauce.
After the sauce thickens, add the chopped garlic, cook for 15 seconds after adding the garlic, finally add a little clear oil and it's ready to serve.
Evenly pour the oyster sauce over the lettuce and it's ready to serve.
- Lettuce may look clean and hygienic on the surface, but there may actually be insects inside each leaf.
- When blanching lettuce, you must use more boiling water to maintain high temperature for quick cooking, otherwise low heat will turn it into boiled vegetables.
- The seasoning sauce only needs oyster sauce, light soy sauce, white sugar, and dark soy sauce. Those who prefer stronger taste can add salt for saltiness and MSG for freshness.
- The starch slurry can be a bit thicker, otherwise the sauce won't easily stick to the lettuce.