RECIPE

Chinese-style Potted Vegetables

by Valentina

This dish comes from China, where it is known as 大锅菜 Dà guō cài. It is a family recipe, whose ingredients change according to the region and family preferences.

The main ingredients are Chinese cabbage and mushrooms. The other ingredients can change according to the season and your taste.

In the version that we show you in this post we used manly local products such Chinese cabbage (grown in Bordeaux), carrots, celery, onion, mushrooms and sunflower oil. Other ingredients such as soy sauce and galanga come respectively from China and Thailand. Galanga is an aromatic rhizome in the botanical family of ginger. It gives a unique flavor to this dish.

In the traditional version you put pork bones to give more flavor, but we didn’t. The recipe also includes tofu, dried bean skin, and bamboo shoots, but we didn’t have any this time, so we made a simplified version.  But very nice anyway!

Chinese Potted Vegetables Recipe

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 30 minutes

What you need

Some of the ingredients of Chinese Potted Vegetables
  • Napa cabbage
  • Celery
  • Carrot
  • Onion
  • Baby corn
  • Mushrooms: common mushroom (Agaricus bisporus), dry mushrooms like Shiitake mushrooms (Lentinula edodes) and Cloud ear fungus (Auricularia polytricha), or other kind of edible mushrooms
  • Galanga
  • Tofu (firm or extra-firm, according to your taste)
  • Dried bean skin
  • Bamboo shoot
  • Sunflower seed oil
  • Oyster sauce or vegetarian oyster sauce (mushroom-based)

How to make Potted vegetables

First of all, if you have soy skins, soak them in warm water for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile:

Rinse the cabbage.
Cut the cabbage in three in a crosswise direction.
Put the cabbage in hot water for 5 minutes; if you like crispy vegetables instead, you can boil it for just 2 minutes. Drain the cabbage and keep the hot water aside.
Prepare the carrots and celery stalks, and onion. If you have shallots, you can use them too.
Put the carrots and celery stalks in the hot water and cover. Then add the mushrooms. No need to restart the fire.
Put sunflower oil and the onion pieces in a casserole. At this point, according to the traditional recipe, add the pork bones.
Add all the vegetables, the galangal and the oyster sauce.

Simmer for 30 minutes. Serve with plain rice.

慢慢吃！màn màn chī

*Enjoy your meal!

Notes

Just like all simmered dishes, Chinese Potted Vegetables is even better the day after tomorrow!

Traditionally Oyster sauce is used to season this dish, a sauce originally made from oysters and sea water.

For this dish, we used a vegetarian version of oyster sauce, made from mushrooms.

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About Valentina

Valentina is an international communication consultant. She has served communication and PR agencies for several years by providing insights into local French and Italian food trends and traditions. Thanks to her multicultural background, she focuses on promoting intercultural collaboration for sustainable living.

www.daybydayplants.com