“Healthy Stir-fried Chinese Spinach aka Yin Choi (Leaf Amaranth) with Goji Berries (Wolfberries). Don’t forget it’s nutritional values!”
If Chinese Spinach does not sound familiar to you. Try read it in Cantonese – Yin Choy, or in Mandarin as Xiàn Cài (苋菜). It’s Amaranth leaves.
This is a well-known ‘baby vegetable’. When baby starts taking solid or semi-solid meal, Chinese Spinach has always been the first vegetable choice to be cooked in porridge. Mince or blend the vegetables, before adding into baby’s porridge cooking.
[Ingredients Value] Healthy Vegetables and its values:
It has high nutritional values, which contains Vitamin A, B2, B6, C, K, minerals such as folate, calcium, iron, potassium, zinc, manganese and etc.
For growth of teeth and bones, prevention of muscle cramps, increase red blood cells and improve capacity of oxygen.
So, for adult, we eat Chinese Spinach very often, too. However, it’s not suitable to be taken by people who suffers from gout and rheumatism due to its high content of organic acid.
Chinese Spinach segregated into different kinds. The most common ones should be completely green Spinach and the one bearing some purplish or redish colour marks in the middle of the leaf.
Not only in Asia, many Europe countries use this vegetable (with purple colour in the middle of the leaf type) to make salad dish. We, Asian, prefer to have it in soup or stir-fried with minced garlic.
I cooked Chinese Spinach with Wolfberries, in addition to minced garlic. I loved the natural sweetness of wolfberry. By adding extra wolfberries into the dish, it makes the overall biting more interesting and better mouthfeel in the palate. It also presented more appealing with the additional colour on top of the greens.
Not only for the sweetness of Wolfberry that makes the dish even tastier. Wolfberry has valuable nutrients of traceable dietary minerals, vitamins and amino acids, which should not be overlooked. Chinese says it is important to consume for maintaining good vision. Smile.
It takes less than 20 minute to prepare. It’s so simple to cook:
Ingredients
About 500 gram of Chinese Spinach (苋菜)
1 spoonful of wolfberries
4 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced or minced
Sprinkle of salt
1 tablespoon of cooking oil
Method
1) Cut off root edge of Chinese Spinach. Wash and remove the outer layer of fiber on stems. Cut vegetables, lengthwise.
2) Heat oil in wok over high heat. Place garlic, stir-fry for 30 seconds, or until fragrant and lightly browned.
3) Quickly add in vegetables, sprinkle some water, and stir fry for 1 min.
4) Add wolfberries, and stir-fry for another minute. Sprinkle salt, and continue to fry for 20 seconds before heat off. Serve warm.
Since Chinese Spinach claimed to promote blood circulation, it helps in weight watching, too. The calorie-count in this Chinese Spinach dish with a decent portion yields less than 50kcal. Yes, it’s very low-fat!
Yes, one more thing. I read somewhere that this vegetable should not be reheat for consume, especially to young children. Remember ya..
Tips: Use high heat to fry vegetable quickly to avoid diminishing of nutrients. Do not over-cook it to retain bright greenish colour.
*Sometimes, I choose to remove the fiber on the outer layer of the vegetable stems as the fiber makes it harder to bite. It’s optional!
* Omit the garlic, if you can’t take it as vegetarian meal.