Monday, July 18, 2005
Chinese Broccoli
I feel that I am slow at getting this obvious clue, but the seafood department at Ranch 99 in Milpitas is amazing. They have lively Maine lobsters that are easily 15 or 20 pounds! Monster Lobsters!
Similarly wonderful is the selection of leafy greens. Let's start with Chinese Broccoli. You're not likely to find this at Safeway or Whole Foods, so you'll have to venture out to a real Chinese store. The kale/cabbage/broccoli family is large, so there are many varieties! Chinese broccoli looks like the better known Italian broccoli rabe, but the taste is quite different. It has a strong flavor, almost spicy, bitterish mustard-like that is absolutely fabu with oyster sauce, garlic and sesame oil.
The flavor is also a little smoky, like a caper, so you can pair it with similar traditional caper dishes as well. Sauteed with garlic, it would be great with saltimbocca or salmon. Though it seems to need an acid sauce to balance the bitterness, I don't think I would put it in a tomato based puttanesca sauce, but it would make a nice pairing with eggplant, grilled or otherwise, if you spritzed it with a lemon and sprinkled with toasted mustard seeds.
Ooo, or wrapped in prosciutto like asparagus and grilled would be wonderful. A nice substitute for nasty asparagus. (I just hate asparagus, and what it does to your body chemistry is just wrong.) And, with 41% of your daily recommended allowance of vitamin C and packed with calcium and A too, Chinese broccoli is very good for you.
Similarly wonderful is the selection of leafy greens. Let's start with Chinese Broccoli. You're not likely to find this at Safeway or Whole Foods, so you'll have to venture out to a real Chinese store. The kale/cabbage/broccoli family is large, so there are many varieties! Chinese broccoli looks like the better known Italian broccoli rabe, but the taste is quite different. It has a strong flavor, almost spicy, bitterish mustard-like that is absolutely fabu with oyster sauce, garlic and sesame oil.
The flavor is also a little smoky, like a caper, so you can pair it with similar traditional caper dishes as well. Sauteed with garlic, it would be great with saltimbocca or salmon. Though it seems to need an acid sauce to balance the bitterness, I don't think I would put it in a tomato based puttanesca sauce, but it would make a nice pairing with eggplant, grilled or otherwise, if you spritzed it with a lemon and sprinkled with toasted mustard seeds.
Ooo, or wrapped in prosciutto like asparagus and grilled would be wonderful. A nice substitute for nasty asparagus. (I just hate asparagus, and what it does to your body chemistry is just wrong.) And, with 41% of your daily recommended allowance of vitamin C and packed with calcium and A too, Chinese broccoli is very good for you.
# posted by Comida Evangelista : 1:20 PM
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