This Chinese-style Lettuce with Garlic Oyster Sauce is a tasty and easy vegetable side dish you can put together in 15 minutes. A little chili bean paste will add a mild heat to the dish, but you can leave it out for a non-spicy version.
Ingredients
🥬 Lettuce
If you haven’t tried cooked lettuce, I think you will find this dish quite interesting. I recommend using romaine. Once cooked, it will have a crisp texture with a mild sweetness. Its natural bitterness will no longer be noticeable.
🧄 Garlic Oyster Sauce
The easy garlic sauce is composed of aromatics and seasonings:
- aromatics: garlic, ginger and scallion
- seasonings: oyster sauce, light soy sauce, doubanjiang (chili bean paste), sugar, and toasted sesame oil
You can leave out the chili bean paste if you want to keep the dish non-spicy or if you don’t have it on hand. It is also okay if you don’t have toasted sesame oil.
For a vegetarian version, you can try using vegetarian oyster sauce/stir-fry sauce.
Cooking Steps
It is very quick and easy to make this blanched romaine with garlic sauce. Below are the main cooking steps:
1️⃣ Blanch the romaine briefly. Then immediately transfer the lettuce to a bowl of iced water to stop the cooking process so that it will stay crisp and green. After that, place it in a colander to drain excess water.
Note: when blanching vegetables, make sure to use a large pot with plenty of water and bring it to a boil over high heat. Cook in batches if needed.
2️⃣ Make the garlic sauce. Use medium heat to sauté the aromatics to bring out their fragrance without burning them. Then add the seasonings and cook until the sauce starts to simmer.
3️⃣ Put the dish together. The last step is transferring the blanched lettuce to a serving plate and drizzling the garlic sauce over it.
Please find the full instructions in the recipe card below. I look forward to hearing what you think about this lettuce with chili garlic sauce recipe.
Related Recipes
More quick and easy Asian vegetable side dishes to try:
⭐️ I’d love to hear what you think about the dish, so please feel free to leave a comment and a rating if you have tried it. New recipes are added every week so let’s connect on Facebook, Youtube, Pinterest and Instagram for the latest updates. You can find my collection of Vietnamese recipes here.
Chinese-style Lettuce with Garlic Sauce
Ingredients
- 10.5-12 oz romaine lettuce
- cooking oil
- 3/4 tablespoon minced ginger
- 1 tablespoon thinly sliced white parts of scallions
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon doubanjiang (chili bean paste)
- 1/2 tablespoon oyster sauce
- 1 1/2 tablespoons light soy sauce (or regular soy sauce)
- 1/8 teaspoon granulated sugar (more to taste)
- 3 tablespoons water
- 1 1/2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil (optional)
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Then add romaine and blanch briefly, about 20 seconds. Immediately transfer the lettuce to a bowl of iced water to stop the cooking process. Then place romaine in a colander to drain excess water.
- Place a pan over medium heat and add some cooking oil to coat the bottom, about 1 tablespoon. Add the minced ginger and sauté for a minute until fragrant. Then add the white parts of scallions and garlic and sauté for another minute.
- Add doubanjiang to the pan, then stir and cook until fragrant and the oil looks red. Add oyster sauce and soy sauce and give everything a stir.
- Add water and sugar. Stir and bring everything to a simmer. Taste and adjust the seasonings to your liking. Stir in sesame oil and turn off the heat.
- Arrange blanched lettuce on a serving plate. Drizzle the garlic sauce over the vegetables and serve right away.
Notes
Nutrition
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