Stir Fried Water Spinach Recipes

This quick cooking side dish is ready in 15 minutes but only five of those minutes are hands-on in the kitchen, making it a perfect addition to any weeknight menu. Look for water spinach (called rau muong or ong choy) in Asian markets. Regular spinach is a fine substitute, though it won't have the same silkiness. You can top it with your favorite protein for a one-dish dinner. Try adding tofu, chicken, shrimp, or even seared tuna to your bowl for a hearty dinner that won't leave you feeling stuffed. Add this recipe to your rotation to expand your palate and bring some flavor to the table.

Provided by Andrea Nguyen

Time 15m

Yield Serves 4 (serving size: about 1/2 cup)

Number Of Ingredients 8

• Ingredients

Nutrition Facts : Calories 76, Carbohydrate 6 g, Cholesterol 0.0 mg, Fat 5.1 g, Fiber 3 g, Protein 4 g, SaturatedFat 0.4 g, Sodium 267 mg, Sugar 1 g

Provided by Corinne Trang

Categories     side-dish

Time 20m

Yield 6 servings

Number Of Ingredients 5

• Ingredients

It is hard to imagine the Viet table without water spinach (a.k.a. morning glory in English, rau muông in Vietnamese, and ong choy in Cantonese; illustrated on page 174), a long, tubular leafy green that is part of the lifeblood of the country and appears in many guises. The tender tops with their pointy leaves are often boiled or stir-fried. The hollow stems are sometimes laboriously split into slender pieces, dropped in water to curl, and then the crunchy raw spirals are used as a garnish for certain noodle dishes, such as Crab and Shrimp Rice Noodle Soup (page 215); as a bed for a beef stir-fry; or as a lightly dressed salad. Water spinach is also pickled. Even today my parents become wistful at the mention of a rustic meal of boiled rau muông, soup prepared from the left over cooking liquid, a heady fish kho, and rice. So, it was a sad moment when we arrived in the United States to discover that we could not afford water spinach, which cost nearly two dollars a pound and was not widely available. What had once been an everyday vegetable was suddenly a splurge. When my parents did buy it, my mother would stir-fry the greens with garlic and fermented shrimp sauce (mâm tôm) and finish the dish with lots of lime. Aromatic, earthy, and tangy, the traditional combination was a comforting reminder of our culinary roots. Nowadays, rau muông is thankfully much less expensive and is easily found at Chinese and Southeast Asian markets. During the peak summer season, prices are downright cheap. Here are two options for stir-frying the bounty: first, the soulful dish of my youth, followed by a more modern preparation flavored with garlic and oyster sauce, which pairs well with Eastern and Western dishes (try it with a steak). If you can't find water spinach, Western spinach can be used for either of the two stir-fries that follow.

Yield serves 4 to 6 with 2 or 3 other dishes

Number Of Ingredients 1

• Ingredients