braised turnip
braised turnip picture by joe sevita
vegetable forward main dish
Another home styled Chinese dish I love is braised turnip. It’s vegetable forward with minimal meat. The little bit of minced pork adds flavor, similar to the way bacon is used in Western cuisine. And it takes just 15 minutes to braise.
Trust me you will devour it with a big bowl of steaming white rice. It is truly satisfying yet light and healthy.
Tips: Instead of pork, use minced chicken or beef. For complete vegetarian version, try fried minced shiitake mushroom, or minced five spiced tofu, minced sechuan pickles in place of minced pork.
ingredients
• 2 star anise
• 1 dried chili pepper
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 inch nub of ginger, sliced or chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, sliced or chopped
• 2 scallions chopped
• 8 oz ground pork
• 1 lb turnip, sliced into 1” pieces, 1/4” thick
• 1 tbsp Chinese cooking wine or sherry
• 2 tsp dark soy sauce
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 tsp sugar
• 2 cups water
• 1.5 tbsp corn starch
• 3 tbsp water
steps
Heat oil over low heat. Add star anise and chili pepper and infuse flavor. Remove star anise.
Add ginger, garlic and white parts of scallion and stir for a minute till fragrant
Add pork, let sit undisturbed for a minute. Then stir fry until pork is no longer pink.
Add turnips, cooking wine or sherry, dark soy sauce, light soy sauce, oyster sauce, salt, sugar and water and mix well together. Bring to boil, cover and simmer for 15 minutes
Combine corn starch and water. Mixed until corn starch is dissolved.
Taste turnip for doneness. Add corn starch mixture and cook on high heat until sauce is thickened. Top with green chopped onions.
