It’s almost Chinese New Year — it’s this Friday, the 31st and I suggest serving this super delicious soup after the Crispy Garlic Ginger Bok Choy Chips that we made on Monday.
Gai Lan. Ever heard of it?
Well if you haven’t, you’ll start to more and more because a little birdie told me it’s going to be “the new kale.” Now this doesn’t actually make a whole lot of sense because Gai Lan is actually Chinese Kale, (often called Chinese broccoli).
So really, Gai Lan is going to be the new kale variety. And by “new,” I suppose the little birdie meant trendy veggie.
The dark green leaves of Gai Lan are packed with nutrients and become soft, like spinach, when cooked. Delicious sautéed with oyster sauce and garlic, it’s also one of my favorite greens to add to soups, as it keeps its sweet and pungent flavors even after a longer cooking time.
I want to thank Melissa’s Produce again for essentially sending me Chinese New Year — in a box.
And please stay tuned because next up are the incredibly over-the-top delicious Daikon “French Fries!”
Enjoy!
This is not a sponsored post — Melissa’s Produce sent me Gai Lan for recipe testing, and as always, all opinions are my own.
- Grape seed oil for the pot
- ¼ cup light Miso paste Shiro Miso
- 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger pulp
- 1 teaspoon freshly grated garlic
- 1½ teaspoons chili paste I like Sambal Oelek
- ¾ cup thinly sliced brown onion
- 3 cups Gai Lan washed, dried and roughly chopped with tough portion of stems removed
- 5 cups warm water
- 4 thinly sliced hard boiled eggs yolks removed (Here's how to hard boil eggs.)
- Sea salt to taste Here's how to season to taste.
- Dried chile flakes for garnish
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Coat the bottom of a large soup pot with grape seed oil and place it over medium-low heat. Add the miso, ginger, garlic and chile paste. Let this sauté for a couple of minutes, and then add the onions.
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Continue to sauté until the onions are soft and translucent, about 5 minutes.
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Add the Gai Lan and cook just until it's wilted. Then add the water and bring to a boil.
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Add the sliced hard cooked eggs, cover the pot, reduce the heat to low and simmer for about 15 minutes.
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Season to taste with sea salt and garnish each serving with dried chile flakes.
Sounds wonderful! I would love to try this soup!
Thanks, Christina! Enjoy!
yum! I never thought of putting miso and gai lan together, will definitely try it!
Thanks so much, Bonnie! Hope you enjoy. 🙂
What is gai lan and where can we buy it?
Hi Rolando, gai lan is Chinese broccoli and it’s often available in many major grocery stores (Gelson’s Whole Foods, Ralph’s), and definitely in any Asian market. Cheers!