Water Spinach with Fermented Tofu 椒絲腐乳炒通菜 (Cantonese: jiu si fu yu cao tung choi) is a classic Cantonese vegetable dish. Water spinach has many names. It’s also known as river spinach, tong choy, ong choy, kangkong or morning glory (not the flower).
My mom used to call it 抽筋菜 (chau gun choi) which literally means “cramp” vegetables. Water spinach is said to cause cramping if consumed too much. There is no scientific evidence that proves this. But before disregarding what mom says, there maybe some truth behind this old wives’ tale. Water spinach is high in oxalic acid which binds to calcium in your body, thereby causing calcium depletion. And calcium deficiency can cause muscle spasm and cramping. But should we avoid it? Nah, it’s pretty safe to consume unless you’re prone to kidney stones in which case your physician would probably have you on a low oxalic acid diet anyways. It also has good stuff too. It's high in iron, vitamin A, vitamin C and other vitamins and minerals. But then you probably don’t want to eat it every day either.
There are typically 2 types of water spinach. One is the white water spinach 白通菜 (bak tung choi) and the green water spinach 清通菜 (chaeng tung choi). The white one grows in swampy soil and the other is in wet soil. The white one is larger and crisper in texture. The green one is smaller and softer in texture. I like both.
The water spinach is an interesting vegetable because the leaves, after cooking are soft like spinach and the stems are hollow and crunchy. It’s the perfect vegetable for bold sauces like fermented tofu, fermented shrimp paste, fermented soy bean paste and chilis.
Water Spinach with Fermented Tofu 椒絲腐乳炒通菜 is traditionally cooked using very high heat with lots of oil to coat the leaves. This method will preserve the green colour of the water spinach. Since this vegetable is high in iron, cooking at low heat and less oil will cause it to turn brown. It won’t change anything else, but it won’t look nice. But there is an alternative.
In my Water Spinach with Fermented Tofu 椒絲腐乳炒通菜 recipe, I’ll show you another method that is more common nowadays since most people try to avoid using too much oil. The method is parboiling them first before stir-frying. This will prevent your dish from looking like water spinach soup instead of a stir-fry. It'll also help remove some of the oxalic acid content. So, even though this method is not traditional, I think it’s more sensible. They’re usually in season during the summer, so give this dish a try next time you see water spinach at your grocery store.
Looking for more dinner ideas? Try my Chinese Steamed Fish 清蒸魚, it's healthy & delicious!
Water Spinach with Fermented Tofu 椒絲腐乳炒通菜
Ingredients
- 600 g Water spinach aka ong choy, tong choy, morning glory or river spinach
- 40 g Fermented tofu aka fu yu
- 3 slices Ginger
- 2 Thai chilis or 1 red chili (or any chili)
- 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine
- 1 tbsp Fish sauce
- 1 tsp Sugar
- 2 tbsp Oil
Instructions
- Cut off ends of your bunch of water spinach, cut them in 8 cm (3”) segments, soak them in water, pick out discoloured pieces, drain, soak again, drain again and let dry. Set aside
- Prepare 3 slices of ginger and slice chilis
you can also julienne the ginger if you want to incorporate it with the vegetables. I don’t like to eat ginger so I like to keep it big so I can fish it out - Prepare the sauce by combining 40g of fermented tofu (my jar has small cubes and it is equivalent to 4 cubes), 1 tbsp fish sauce, 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine and 1 tsp sugar. Mix well and set aside
- Bring a pot of water to a boil. Use approx. 3-4 litres of water (more the better for quicker parboiling)
- Add the water spinach to the boiling water. Parboil for 1 minute.
- Drain in colander. When the water spinach cools a bit, squeeze some of the water out, toss to loosen and set aside
- Use medium-high heat to heat your wok. Add 2 tbsp oil
- Add ginger to wok, fry until golden
- Add chilis to wok, fry for 10 seconds
- Stir the sauce and add to wok, fry for 10 seconds
- Put the heat up to high
- Add water spinach and stir-fry until they are fully mixed with the sauce and reheated. Will take approx. 2 minutes
- Serve
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