Chinese Broccoli with Oyster Sauce
Learn a Chinese chef's secrets for the perfect crunchy gai lan!
Cooking Summary
Ingredients: (detailed list)
- Main Ingredients: Chinese broccoli, boiling water, oyster sauce, olive oil, salt
Steps:
Jump To Section
Overview
Today, Chef Daddy Lau is going to teach us how to cook Chinese Broccoli with Oyster Sauce.
Also known as “gaai láan” in Cantonese, this is a super easy recipe that I ate almost every single week growing up. Even for a “simple” dinner, my dad would have at least 3 or 4 courses, and gailan was always in the rotation as his go-to vegetable dish.
We'll also be going over:
- How to pick the freshest Chinese Broccoli
- How to store gailan at home
- How to get the perfect, soft, crunchy texture for gailan
- Dietary alternatives to oyster sauce
Let's get started!
Why this recipe
Most chinese broccoli with oyster sauce recipes online are tested only a handful of times. My dad used to make this dish multiple times a day, every day, for 60+ years and can make this in his sleep.
I know you'll love it as much as our community does! This recipe has over 1.5M views, 24.5K likes on YouTube.
Ingredients
How to select fresh Chinese Broccoli
My parents get into a lot of detail in our video's Meal Time section, but we're looking for a few cues:
- The stem should be a light, fresh color
- The stem should easily snap in half
- The leaves should be a deeper green
- The flowers buds, if any, should be green (not yellow)
How to store Chinese Broccoli
When you get home from the store, line some trays with paper towels and lay each piece across the trays for 4-5 hours.
Poke a few holes in a plastic bag, loosely wrap the paper towels around the gai lan, and place them in the bag.
Store the bag in a vegetable compartment if you have one.
Alternatives to Oyster Sauce
If you're vegetarian or need to stay away from gluten, we have three alternatives for you!
Vegetarian Oyster Sauce
Since oyster sauce is made out of oyster extract, here are some alternatives that have a similar taste without using the actual oyster:
- Wan Ja Shan Vegetarian Mushroom Oyster Sauce
- Lee Kum Kee Vegetarian Stir Fry Sauce
- Lee Kum Kee also sells a bigger container of this
Gluten Free Oyster Sauce
Wok Mei has a gluten-free oyster sauce, but it still contains oyster extract, so it's not vegetarian friendly.
Vegetarian + Gluten Free Oyster Sauce
Unfortunately, we don't know of a vendor that sells an oyster sauce that caters to both dietary restrictions, so you'll need to DIY the sauce.
Mix equal parts gluten free soy sauce and gluten free hoisin sauce. This isn't exactly the same as oyster sauce, but it's pretty close.
Finding Asian Ingredients
Some of these ingredients are hard to find in a typical grocery store.
If you don't live near an Asian market, most or all of what my dad uses in this recipe can be found on Amazon:
I've also included some other Chinese kitchen essentials, used in many of my dad's other recipes.
- Koon Chun Hoisin Sauce
- Kadoya Sesame Oil
- Pearl River Bridge Superior Light Soy Sauce
- Michiu Rice Cooking Wine
- Lao Gan Ma Chili Oil
- Pearl River Bridge Superior Dark Soy Sauce
- Lee Kum Kee Chicken Bouillon
- Shaoxing Cooking Wine
- Chinese Sausage - Lap Cheung
- Dried Shrimp
- Dried Shiitake Mushrooms (soak for 15-20 minutes in warm water before slicing)
- Dried Wood Ear Fungus (a few options, depending on what's in stock):
These links are affiliate links, which means that if you use our links to purchase these ingredients, Amazon pays my family a small amount for the sale - at no extra cost to you. If you use these links, we really appreciate the support!
How to make Chinese Broccoli with Oyster Sauce
Here's a brief overview of what we'll be doing and how to get the perfect texture:
- Boil an abundance of water
- Add olive oil and salt to the water
- Bring the water to a boil BEFORE adding the gailan
- Bring to a boil again, and cook the Chinese broccoli for 1 to 2 minutes
As always, my dad says to thoroughly wash our veggies, so give the Chinese broccoli (1 lb) (gai lan) a good rinse.
We'll turn our stove on to its highest heat and set the wok on top of it. Start boiling water (8 cup) - the amount doesn't have to be exact, but more is better.
The less time we spend cooking Chinese broccoli, the better. And one key way to achieve a faster cooking time is to use a larger volume of boiling water.
Chinese restaurants are able to cook gai lan incredibly quickly, because they use larger woks on more powerful stoves.
Next, we'll add olive oil (1 tbsp) and salt (1 tsp) to the water.
In my dad's words, this is almost like "make up" for the Chinese broccoli, and it helps the gai lan retain a fresh green color and adds a beautiful shimmer.
It is critical that our water starts boiling before we add the Chinese broccoli. We want to keep the cook time as short as possible.
Since every piece is uniquely shaped, cut the stems of the gai lan to be uniform. If you notice that there are pieces of gai lan that have a thicker stem, we can take a knife and cut down the middle of the stem about 1-2 inches.
This helps increase the stem's cooking surface area and helps it cook faster, and also helps all of the different sized pieces of gailan cook evenly.
Once the water is boiling, add the gai lan, and cover the wok. If they're not fully submerged, add more hot/boiling water.
In total, once the wok comes to a boil again, we'll only need to cook our gailan for 1 to 2 minutes.
As the wok starts to come to a boil, about halfway there, you can flip the gailan.
More on why we want to cook Chinese broccoli as soon as possible:
- The less time that the gailan is sitting in the boiling water, the less nutrients it loses, and the less chlorophyll it loses.
- It's not only healthier, but it will look more mouthwatering when we're done.
Once 1 to 2 minutes are up, uncover the wok. Cut off a piece of stem and chew on it.
If it's crunchy to your liking, you're done! If you'd prefer it to be softer, you can cook it for another 1-3 minutes.
Once you're happy with the texture, turn off the heat and transfer the gai lan to a plate.
Take scissors and make 1 to 2 cuts along the stems and leaves to make the gai lan easier to eat.
Then, we'll drizzle some oyster sauce (1 tbsp) and more olive oil to taste.
Call your loved ones over - time to eat!
Top 3 Mistakes
- Starting gai lan in cold water:
Bring a generous pot of water to a boil before adding the Chinese broccoli. A fast cooking stage helps preserve the vivid color and crunch instead of slowly heating the greens.
- Cooking stems like leaves:
Separate the thicker stems from the tender leaves when the recipe calls for it. Giving the slower-cooking pieces a head start helps everything finish at the right texture.
- Cutting mismatched pieces:
Cut the vegetables into the sizes and shapes shown in the recipe. Consistent pieces are easier to cook evenly, rather than leaving some hard while smaller pieces become too soft.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the white or yellow flowers on the Chinese broccoli?
Chinese broccoli will start to flower when they are more mature. Those are tougher, so if you have the option, choose ones that have no flowers or with green flowers. If you can't avoid them, just snip them off when you're washing and trimming them.
Why do you start cooking Chinese broccoli in boiling water? Can you use cold water?
The Chinese broccoli needs to cook as fast as possible, so that the nutrients and color don't have as much opportunity to leach out into the water. It's best to start with as much boiling water as you can. Restaurants serve amazingly green and crunchy Chinese broccoli because they use huge amounts of boiling water.
How do you ensure even cooking of the gai lan?
To have the best control over the crunchiness of your gai lan, without overcooking leaves to a soggy mess, keep these tips in mind:
- Prep! Trim and shape the stems so that they're more consistent in size, and they will cook for roughly the same time. Don't forget to slice open thicker stems. That way, you won't have some soft and some crunchy ones; if one is the perfect crunchiness, the rest will also be the same.
- Lots and lots of water! The gai lan needs to cook in the water as quickly as you can manage. The less water you have for cooking X amount of gai lan, the more the gai lan will drop that water temperature when they meet, and the longer it'll take to get up to temperature. So use a big pot of very hot water.
- Leaves cook fast. If your leaves are cooking up faster, you can add them a few seconds after (put in all the stems first, then go ahead and drop the leaves in), and you can also pull the leaves out first if the stems need more time.
What kind of oil do you use for cooking Chinese broccoli?
Any neutral cooking oil works great. We use refined olive oil in our video.
Can I make this recipe with Western broccoli?
Yes! Western broccoli also tastes great with oyster sauce, and you can follow this recipe as is.
Can you drink the broth from boiling gai lan?
Daddy Lau says there's technically no harm in doing so, but it doesn't taste very good. It can be astringent and bitter.
Pairs well with
View all →
Made with love ❤️
We started Made With Lau to celebrate Cantonese culture and honor the legacy of our wonderful parents, Jenny and Chung Sun Lau.
Our hope is that these recipes and stories help you spread the joy, love, and nostalgia that I felt growing up.