Recipe - Baby Kai Lan (Kale) Stir Fry With Chilli Paste

Kai Lan (kale) is rich in vitamins A, C and K and sulphur containing plant nutrients. It is also a good source of minerals copper, potassium, iron, manganese and phosphorous which are essential for health.

The baby kai lan is a versatile vegetable. It can be blanched, stir fried or microwave to get rid of the raw taste. A popular way of cooking this vegetable is to pair it with oyster sauce. 

In this recipe the baby kai lan is stir fried with chilli paste. It is stir fried in high heat so that the baby kai lan is cooked while retaining its crunch.

The chilli paste is home made. Dried chillies are blended with an equal portion of big onions and pan fried in low heat till fragrant. A teaspoon of salt and sugar is added to give this chilli paste some taste.

Ingredients for chilli paste:

100 grams of dried chillies, cut into smaller pieces

3 large onions, diced

baby kai lan

1 tsp of salt

1 tsp of sugar.

1 tbs of oil

Blend the chillies and onions till fine.

Heat the oil in a wok or pan till hot.

Reduce the heat to medium low, add in the paste and keep stirring.

Add salt and sugar and keep stirring. till fragrant.

Set aside and let the paste cool. 

I need only 2 tablespoon of the paste. Keep the rest in small bottles and freeze them for later use.

Now for stir frying the baby kai lan.

200 grams of baby kai lan, wash and head cut off

3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped.

1 tbs of oil

2 tsb of chilli paste

Method:

In a wok or pan, heat the oil till hot

Toss in the garlic, kai lan and chilli paste.

Turn the heat on high

Stir and add a sprinkling of water to prevent burning.

It is done in about 2 minutes.

In this 2 minute video, the kai lan is cooked with crispy pork and chillies.

In this 22 minute video, the kai lan is stir fried with garlic, oyster sauce and sesame oil for added fragrance. For big kai lan, it is nicer to peel off the skins from the stems with a peeler. The skin of the stems can be quite fibrous.

Nice !