Leftover-Vegetable Chap Chye

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This leftover-vegetable chap chye is made entirely from my weekly box of leftover-vegetable scraps. Chap chye is a Chinese-style mixed braised vegetable stew. If you have leftover cabbage alongside assorted veggies & mushrooms at the end of the week, put them together to make an unconventional but tasty “chap chye”.

See Also:

• Chinese Chap Chye (Mixed Vegetables Stew)
• Stir-fry Vegetables (Yasai Itame)
• Stir-fry Bean Sprouts, Chives & Ikea Meatballs
• Claypot Thai Glass Noodles with Prawns

INSIDE MY LEFTOVER-VEGETABLE CHAP CHYE POT

• Veggies – cabbage is a must to make this a chap chye. I also added carrot & snow peas.
• Aromatics – ginger, onion & garlic chives
• Mushrooms – king oyster mushroom, enoki mushroom & shimeji mushroom
• Noodles – mung bean vermicelli/glass noodles (tang hoon)
• Sauce – stock (chicken or dashi), soy sauce & oyster sauce

SECRET INGREDIENT – JAPANESE CRISPY GARLIC CHILLI OIL

This Japanese crispy garlic chilli oil is my kitchen’s latest MVP. It’s a versatile condiment that works with non-Japanese cooking too. In this recipe, I am using the Momoya brand, the right bottle in the picture above. I bought it at Don Don Donki (SG). In true leftover-cooking fashion, I was actually using up the last bit of the chilli oil, and I was surprised that my chap chye tasted so much more delicious! I’d definitely add a spoonful of this chilli oil every time I make chap chye in future.

Besides the Momoya brand, I also have the S&B brand of crispy garlic chilli oil (left bottle above) in my pantry. You can find it at selected Sheng Siong outlets. While the Momoya’s chilli oil is spicy but not hot, S&B is spicy and hot. Whichever brand I use depends on the dish I am making, who I am cooking for and my mood for the day :p

The closest Chinese ingredient substitute for this is XO sauce. Don’t worry, you don’t need to make any substitution if you don’t have the crispy garlic chilli oil. You probably need to add a bit more seasonings to taste at the end of cooking.

MAKE LEFTOVER-VEGETABLE CHAP CHYE POT

Note: You can use a wokpan, frying pan or any heat-resistant claypot or casserole.

First, cook assorted leftover vegetables including cabbage in a wokpan (I am using a 23 cm/9-inch claypot). Add mung bean vermicilli (tang hoon) and prepared sauce (pictured above). After this, simmer down until the most of the sauce is reduced.

Season the chap chye to taste with about 1 tbsp Japanese crispy garlic chilli oil. Stir through to coat the contents evenly in the chilli oil.

Stir in some garlic chives while the casserole is still hot…

… and the dish is completed! Even though there are mung bean noodles in my casserole, this dish actually goes well with rice, in the true fashion of a chap chye. You have a choice to either eat it on its own as a one-dish meal, or enjoy it as a side-dish with rice.