Dish of Yu Choy with Mushrooms and Vegies
(click to enlarge)

Yu Choy, 'Shrooms & Vegies


Malay / California
Makes:
Effort:
Sched:
DoAhead:  		 3-1/2 #
**
1-1/2 hrs
Yes		 This is NOT a soup course soup, this is a feature soup. Note that most of items are cut large enough so they will be eaten individually. See also Variations and Comments.

6
12
4
3
3
15
4
8
3
1/2
3
1-1/2
1/2
1/2
1/4
-------
ar

oz
oz
cl

oz
oz
oz

T
c
T
T
t
t
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Black Mushroom (1)  
Yu Choy (2)
Onion
Garlic
Thai Chilis (3)
Mushrooms (4)
Baby Corn
Daikon (5)
Scallions
Oil
Stock (6)
Fish Sauce
Soy Sauce
Salt
Black Pepper
-- Serve with
Jasmine Rice
Prep   -   (55 min)
  1. Soak BLACK MUSHROOMS in hot water for at least 45 minutes. Drain and slice abut 1/4 inch wide.
  2. Rinse YOU CHOY. Cut off any really huge stem ends and discard yellowing or damaged leaves. Take a plant or two and slice the thick end diagonally 3/4 inch, then, working up, increase to 1-1/2 inch. At the leaves, slice across to about 3/4 inch .
  3. Chop ONION medium. Crush GARLIC and chop coarse. Slice THAI CHILIS open from cap to tip. Mix all.
  4. Drain Canned Mushrooms and mix with Black Mushrooms. Cut Baby Corn into two or three pieces depending on size, and mix in with Mushrooms.
  5. Peel DAIKON and cut into about 3/4 inch chunks.
  6. Cut SCALLIONS into about 1-1/2 inch lengths, white and green.
RUN   -   (35 min)
  1. In a wok or spacious sauté pan, heat OIL and stir in Onion Mix. Fry stirring just until you see the first hints of color.
  2. Stir in Yu Choy and fry stirring until leaves are wilted (about a minute).
  3. Stir in Daikon, Mushroom mix, Stock, Fish Sauce and Soy Sauce. Bring to a boil and simmer until the thickest pieces are just tender enough to eat.
  4. Adjust Liquid if needed, there should be quite a bit. Season to taste with Salt and Black Pepper, then stir in Scallions.
  5. Serve hot, with a bowl of Steamed Jasmine Rice on the table to be spooned in as desired.
NOTES:

  1. Black Mushrooms:

      These are the regular dried Shiitakes found in the Asian section of nearly all markets. You can use fresh Shiitakes, but soak them in the hot water for about 20 minutes and squeeze them out - this changes their texture from dry to silky.

  2. Yu Choy:

      This popular green is now very available in Asian markets, but hasn't hit the supers. Shanghai Bok Choy (sold as "Baby Bok Choy") could also be used. Other Choys will probably also work, though they need more cooking time on the stems. For details see our Asian Cabbage / Mustard Greens.

  3. Chilis:

      (green or red)   I use 4 Thai Chilis, but most people might be happier with 3, or even 2 if you haven't yet made your peace with the Chili Gods. Only a wimp would use just 1. For details see our Thai Chilis page.

  4. Mushrooms:

      This recipe presumes canned mushrooms. The photo example used 1 can of Button Mushrooms and 1 can of Unpeeled Straw Mushrooms (which turned out to be unusually small).

  5. Daikon Radish:

      Choose smaller ones, as the larger become fibrous when cooked. An alternate is Taro Root, widely use in the Tropics. Not authentically tropical, but Potatoes could also be used. White Rose work fine, but avoid Yukon Gold types, as they turn to mush if cooked a little beyond the minimum. For details see our Taro and Potatoes pages.

  6. Stock:

      This is normally Chicken Stock, but for Vegetarian you can use a good vegetable stock. You will also have to replace the Fish Sauce with more Soy Sauce or some other substitute. Vegans, note that Mushrooms are closely related to Animals, not Plants.

  7. Variations:

    While less vegetarian, quartered Fish Balls, or Shrimp (halved if too large) would not be at all out of place in this soup.

  8. Comments:

      When searching my recipe files for "orphan" recipes, I came across this one, lost for 12 years. There was a good photo, so I had made it, but The recipe page was incomplete. It had a title, photo, attribution to Malaysia, the amount of Yu Choy to use, a filename, date, and source Web site - nothing else. The referenced Web site was gone, so I re-constructed the recipe from the photo - thus the "California" designation. This reconstruction was highly successful.
  9. U.S. measure: t=teaspoon, T=Tablespoon, c=cup, qt=quart, oz=ounce, #=pound, cl=clove in=inch tt=to taste ar=as required
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