Pickled small gai choy or pickled cabbage is a simple preserved food using salt. The process of making it is fairly easy with little time involved. Basically clean the leafy greens and dry well. Rub with salt and squeeze out the liquid, let the veggie sits overnight and there you have it.
Gently rinse the pickled veggie, soak for few minutes, pat dry, and give it a fine chop before cooking. I also added some tofu skin for extra nutrients in this stir fry recipe.
Pickled small gai choy and ground pork stir fry -
Ingredients?
- 1 lb of ground pork
- 1 cup/250 grams of pickled small gai choy
- 1 big piece of fried tofu skin (the thick kind)
- 4 garlic cloves
- 2 red chilies
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- 1/4 teaspoon of oyster sauce
- 1/8 teaspoon of chili sauce
- 1/8 teaspoon of salt
How?
Use just a tiny bit of olive oil to "massage" the ground pork if using lean meat, this will help the pork stays tender during the cooking process.
Remove the pickled small gai choy from the packet -
Rinse gently, soak for few minutes to remove excess salt, pat dry, and chop into smaller pieces.
Peel and finely chop the garlic. Discard the chili stems and finely chop the remaining. Chop the tofu skin into tiny pieces -
Drizzle some olive oil to evenly coat the bottom of the pan and turn to medium heat. Add in the garlic, chilies, and some salt. Cook till the garlicky aroma comes out but not burning them.
Switch to medium high heat and add in the ground pork, give it a quick stir. Pour in some oyster sauce for a touch of sweetness flavor, this can also be substitute with small amount of brown sugar. Add in some chili sauce if desired.
Wait till the pork is about 80% cooked through then add in chopped pickled small gai choy and tofu skin. Mix well and cook till all the liquid has been reduced, about 2 more minutes.
Some people use sugar to balance off pickled veggies' acidity. However, I think the extra flavors from the semi-sweet oyster sauce can give more depth to this recipe. You be the judge.
Other Asian stir fry recipes:
Making sandwich is always a good way to "revitalize" the leftover rotisserie chicken in the fridge. However, instead of pair the meat with lettuce and tomato slices, how about giving this simple kiwi salsa a try?
Rotisserie chicken with kiwi salsa ciabatta sandwich?
Ingredients (for two)?
- 2 plain ciabatta
- 1 chicken thigh steak
- 4 cheese squares
- 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter
- Some olive oil
- Some salt
- Some freshly ground black pepper
Salsa:
- 1 big ripe tomato
- 2 half ripe kiwi
- 1/3 onion
- 3 tablespoons of finely chopped cilantro
- 1/2 lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon of salt
- 1/4 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper
How?
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a baking dish with foil for easy cleaning purpose. Keep the butter in room temperature or warm it up slightly in the oven, till the butter softens and easy to brush on ciabatta.
Use bone-in chicken skin-on thigh steak, that way the chicken gets more flavor and juicier after baking in the oven. Season both sides with salt and pepper. Drizzle just a little bit of olive oil on top.
Transfer the chicken steak onto prepared baking dish and into the oven for about 30 to 40 minutes. Once cooked through, remove from heat and let it rest till cool enough to handle by hand. Remove skin and bone, break the meat into larger bite size pieces and set aside for later use. Leftover rotisserie turkey also works well for this recipe, just heat it up in the oven using lower heat or steam for 5 minutes before use.
Remove the stem and seeds from the tomato and chop into tiny cubes. Scoop out the kiwi and chop into tiny cubes. Do not use fully ripe kiwi, otherwise it'll be too soft to handle. Peel and cube the onion. Finely chop the cilantro.
Put the cubed kiwi on the side first and mix all the remaining salsa ingredients in a bowl, including salt, pepper, and juice of half lemon. Kiwi gets mushy easily so add to the salsa mixture in the end and blend gently.
Slice the ciabatta in half, lengthwise. Brush one side of the ciabatta with melted butter. Lay two cheese squares on the other half of the bread. I used Emmental since it was left in the fridge. However, saltier Cheddar should work really well with this recipe.
Transfer the ciabatta onto a baking dish and into a medium/high heat oven. Toast the ciabatta till it turns slightly crunchy on the edges.
To assemble, use the ciabatta with cheese as bottom layer. Put some rotisserie chicken, scoop kiwi salsa over, and top with the other half of the ciabatta.
Leftover kiwi salsa can be stored in the fridge up to few days. Try grill some pork chops and serve with kiwi salsa. Make sure to bring out a bottle of spicy sauce to add more kick to the grilled meat!
Other sandwich recipe:
