Romanesco florets stir-fried in Sichuan “dry pot” type, with spicy doubanjiang and garlic, glazed figs, five-spice yucca fries, and a crispy rice paper tuile.
I’ve been obsessive about romanesco. A kind of cruciferous vegetable, romanesco has pale inexperienced, fractal-like heads which are denser and nuttier than broccoli or cauliflower. The stems have a lot of crunch, and every romanesco flower is surrounded with tender finger leaves that roast up crispy and caramelized like roasted brussels sprouts.
I noticed a vendor promoting tiny romanesco on the downtown farmers market in Portland final week— the primary few of the season— and I needed to take among the cone-like gems dwelling to stir-fry.
For cooking more durable greens like romanesco and cauliflower, an amazing technique is dry stir-frying (gan guo 干锅 or “dry pot”). You flash cook dinner the uncooked florets by oil-blanching, actually “passing through oil” (过油), to lock of their vibrant colour and crisp up their edges. Then, pour out the oil from the wok and return it to the warmth. Stir-fry the aromatics (garlic, dried chiles, chili bean paste), and return the greens to the wok.
Because the liquid seasonings are minimal, caramelization occurs rapidly, decreasing the condiments and sauce on the backside of the wok right into a glaze that coats the crannies of the crisp-tender florets with intense, smoky taste.
To plate, I fried up some yucca root wedges— boiled first till chopstick-tender, fried till golden, then seasoned with five-spice and maldon flake salt. The crunchy, golden wedges had a dry, floury chew that performed properly with the saucy, caramelized florets and thin-skinned shishito peppers.
I wished to mess around with figs too, imagining their caramel, woody notes would go properly with the marginally bitter, sulfurous notes of romanesco. There are only a few items on the plate, sufficient to get a chew right here and there, chewy morsels of seedy, concentrated sweetness that stability the salty doubanjiang and get rid of the necessity for sugar within the sauce.
The rice paper tuile was only for enjoyable, a shattering crisp, fragile garnish that melts on the tongue, leaving a buttery savoriness.
📖 Recipe
Stir-fried romanesco and shishito peppers with chili bean paste and garlic 干锅绿花菜
Romanesco florets stir-fried in Sichuan “dry pot” type, with spicy doubanjiang and garlic, glazed figs, five-spice yucca fries, and a crispy rice paper tuile.
- Prep Time: 20
- Cook Time: 20
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Ingredients
Scale
For the stir-fry:
- 1 pound (450g) romanesco
- 7–8 shishito peppers
- Vegetable oil, for frying
- 8 dried chiles, snipped into 2-cm segments, seeds shaken out
- 3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon Sichuan chili bean paste (doubanjiang)
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- A handful of dried figs, minimize into quarters
For the yucca fries and crispy tuile (optionally available):
- 8 oz (224g) yucca root, peeled and roll-cut into wedges
- Vegetable oil for frying
- 1 small spherical sheet of rice paper (the type used for wrapping Vietnamese spring rolls)
- Kosher salt, to style
- 1 tsp five-spice powder
Instructions
- Trim and minimize the romanesco into florets, retaining as many leaves as potential. Cut the shishito peppers at a diagonal bias into 2-inch items. Heat about 2 cups oil in a wok to 350°F (177°C). Drop within the romanesco and oil-blanch for two minutes, till stems are vibrant inexperienced in colour and florets are turning golden-brown on the perimeters. Remove with a slotted spoon and switch to a paper towel-lined plate. Drop the shishito peppers and fry for 10 seconds (very briefly!), then switch to the identical plate.
- If frying the yucca fries and rice paper tuile, do this now (see step beneath). Pour out the oil right into a heat-proof container, retaining about 1 tablespoon within the wok.
- Heat the wok over medium-high warmth and add the dried chiles. Stir-fry till aromatic and beginning to darken, then add the garlic slices. When the garlic is aromatic not but browned, about 30 seconds, push the aromatics up the perimeters of the wok and add the chili bean paste, soy sauce, and dried figs. When the sauce is effervescent, add the oil-blanched romanesco and shishito peppers and stir-fry over excessive warmth till the sauce is barely diminished and coats the greens like a glaze, about 2 minutes. Remove the wok from the warmth.
For the yucca fries and crispy rice paper tuile (optionally available):
- Bring a small pot of water to a boil. Blanch the yucca items till a knife slides by means of the items with ease. Remove gently with a slotted spoon and pat dry with a clear towel. Fry till crispy and golden-brown and drain on a paper-towel-lined plate. Drop the sheet of rice paper into the oil— it’s going to puff up instantly and switch white. Remove earlier than it burns and switch to a paper towel. Sprinkle with salt and five-spice.
To serve:
- Arrange just a few items of fried yucca on the plate. Transfer the stir-fried romanesco on high. Scatter just a few of the glazed figs across the plate, and garnish with the rice paper tuile. Serve instantly.
Keywords: shishito, romanesco, sichuan
