Stir-fry Royale Chives & Hon Shimeji
This is an easy Chinese stir-fry royale chives & hon shimeji mushrooms recipe. Since royale chives (qing long cai 青龙菜) are often cooked with dried salted fish, I tried it out … I really liked the savoury depth it adds to the dish.
This dish is very homely and goes well with rice.
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Since one packet of chives is really not much when cooked, the hon shimeji (beech) mushrooms help to give the dish more volume & flavour. You can use any fresh sliced mushrooms to substitute the hon shimeji. Next time round, I’ll cook this with beansprouts, which is another popular ingredient to add to stir-fried royale chives.
Main ingredients. Besides royale chives which has been cut & washed, there are hon shimeji with their ends trimmed & discarded, garlic & ginger (at the cutie bear’s ears), sliced chilli and a small piece of dried salted fish, diced. If you don’t want salted fish, just omit it and use a bit more seasonings.
You can use either white or brown variety of hon shimeji or a mix of both like I did.
Aside: Isn’t this mouse flower pot from Daiso oh so cute? :p
Stir-fry Royale Chives & Hon Shimeji Recipe
There is quite a bit of dirt in these royale chives, so be sure to rinse them thoroughly to get rid of all the soil before cooking.
You can replace hon shimeji (beech mushrooms) with freshly sliced mushrooms such as shiitake, button or king oyster.
Ingredients:
- 1 packet (150g) royale chives (青龙菜)
- 5 grams dried salted fish diced see cooking note below
- 5 cloves garlic finely chopped
- 4 thin slices ginger sliced to long thin strips
- 1 finger-length red chilli sliced thinly; optional
- 75g ends-trimmed hon shimeji mushrooms
- 1/2 tsp mushroom seasoning powder see cooking note
- 1 tbsp water add more if needed
- tiny pinch of salt to taste
- 1 tbsp Chinese wine (Hua Tiao/Shaoxing)
Directions:
- Prepare royale chives by cutting them to five uniform sections. Wash the chives thoroughly to get rid of the excess dirt and spin dry.
- Fry salted fish. Heat oil in a wokpan. Add diced salted fish and fry until golden.
- Fry aromatics & mushrooms. Add garlic, ginger and chilli. Cook briskly until aromatic. Add mushrooms and stir fry until just softened.
- Add prepared chives, mushroom powder and water. Stir fry on high heat until half withered. Then drizzle Chinese wine along the walls of the wokpan. Continue stir-frying until the chives are just cooked and still green.
Cooking Note(s):
- If you do not want to use salted fish, omit it and use a bit more seasonings (such as salt, mushroom powder or soy sauce), to taste.
- I use mushroom seasoning powder as a delicious MSG-free seasoning for all my vegetable stir-fries. You can substitute it with appropriate amount of salt, soy sauce or fish sauce.