Boiled Lettuce with Garlic & Oyster Sauce:
In this episode of Why It Works, Lucas Sin prepares two types of boiled lettuce, or "Coek" in Cantonese. The dish is traditionally served at restaurants that serve noodles and offer boiled or "scalded" vegetables as a healthy side.

"This recipe, ultimately, is a simple one. Which is to say that the details really make a difference. First, is the lettuce. Properly cooked lettuce should still be brilliantly green with a crisp stem and slippery, silky leaves, which can only be achieved if blanched briefly in a large amount of salted water. Without enough water, the greens will take too long to come to temperature and then turn yellow. Without salt, the greens will taste bland.

Second, is the sauce. This type of brown oyster and soy sauce based seasoning is very common in Chinese home cooking, so mastering it is instrumental. This flavor comes from balance; when all the ingredients are added to the pan at the right time and at the right temperature, the resulting sauce should be at a pleasant equilibrium between salty, sweet, and savory flavors with an aromatic base of garlic and scallion. The texture–just thick enough to cling to the surface of the greens without clumping–is a result of the thick oyster sauce and a starch slurry which help emulsify and smoothen the sauce. And the look is a result of the pop of color from the red chilis and the gloss from a last-minute addition of oil."
—Lucas Sin

CHAPTERS:
0:00 - Intro
1:06 - Two types of lettuces
2:15 - Liquid for boiling
2:34 - Aromatics - Garlic, Scallion, Chili Pepper
6:40 - Sauce components
7:58 - Making the Oyster Sauce
10:18 - Boil vegetables
11:01 - Plating
11:41 - Tasting

GET THE RECIPE:
Boiled Lettuce with Garlic & Oyster Sauce: https://food52.com/recipes/90179-chin...

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