Stir-fry Royale Chives & Prawns

This stir-fry royale chives & prawns (青龙菜炒虾) was cooked with salted fish, garlic and ginger.  Whenever I am at a loss about what vegetable to cook for the day, I know I won’t go wrong with royale chives (qing long cai 青龙菜). This vegetable is easy to prepare – just cut, wash & spin dry. Another reason why I like royale chives is that the price mark-up for this vegetable is particularly high as compared to other vegetables when ordering it at a restaurant. So that makes it so much more worthwhile to cook with royale chives at home.

See Also:

• Stir-fry Royal Chives with Garlic
• Delicious Prawns Recipes
• More Royal Chives Recipes

The royale chives were stir-fried with salted fish, ginger and garlic for a savoury depth.

STEP-BY-STEP PHOTOS

Heat up some oil and fry the salted fish bits until golden brown as shown above. Set the salted fish aside on a plate.

Use the remaining oil in the wok from frying the salted fish to stir-fry the prawns briskly until they just turn opaque. Set the prawns aside on a plate too.

Add some more oil. Stir fry garlic and ginger until fragrant.

Add the chives and mushroom seasoning powder.

Stir fry until chives have just started withering (pictured above), then cover with lid and steam for 1 minute.

Drizzle Chinese wine along the side of the wok…

… and return the prawns and salted fish back to the wok.

Stir fry quickly until the chives and prawns are just cooked.

Plate the dish and serve.

Print

Stir-fry Royale Chives & Prawns

The royale chives, cooked with savoury salted fish and the umami essence of the prawns, are extra delicious in this recipe. Be quick handed when stir frying this dish, taking care not to overcook the chives and prawns.

Check out the step-by-step photos on the previous page.

Serves: 2-4

Prep Time: 10 mins

Cook Time: 10 mins

Ingredients:

• 10-12 medium prawns (shrimps)
• 1 packet (150g) royale chives (青龙菜)
• 1/2 + 1/2 tbsp cooking oil divided
• 5 grams dried salted fish diced; see cooking note below
• 5 cloves garlic finely chopped
• 4 thin slices ginger sliced to long thin strips
• 1/2 tsp mushroom seasoning powder see cooking note
• tiny pinch of salt
• 1 tbsp Chinese wine (Hua Tiao/Shaoxing)

Directions:

1. Prepare prawns by removing the shells and veins, leaving only the tail on. Pat dry and set aside.
2. Prepare royale chives by cutting them to six uniform sections. Wash the chives thoroughly to get rid of the excess dirt and spin dry in a salad spinner.
3. Fry salted fish. Heat 1/2 tbsp oil in a wokpan. Add diced salted fish and fry until golden. Remove salted fish and set aside on a plate.
4. Add prepared prawns to the wok and stir-fry briskly until just cooked on the surface. Set aside.
5. Fry aromatics. Add remaining oil, garlic and ginger. Stir fry briskly until aromatic.
6. Add prepared chives, mushroom powder and water. When the chives are half withered, cover the wok with lid, drizzle Chinese wine along the walls of the wok and let the contents steam for 1 minute. Return prawns and salted fish back to the wok. Stir-fry on high heat until both the chives and prawns are just cooked.

Cooking Note(s):

1. If you do not wish to use salted fish, use a bit more seasoning of choice to taste.
2. I used 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.
3. If your stir-fry is too dry, add 1 tbsp water when frying the chives. I prefer not to add water since the royale chives tend to exude some water after cooking.

Ingredients Used: Chinese wine • garlic • ginger • mushroom seasoning powder • prawn • royale chive • salted fish