A-choy in stock with century and salted egg

Ingredientsserves 4

Equipment

• A wok with a lid. A wide lidded saucepan does the same.

How the time splits

1. 8 minWash the leaves, cut the eggshands on
2. 5 minFry the garlic, cook the eggs into the stockhands on
3. 2 minThe A-choy in, a minute and a halfhands on

Method

1. Cut the A-choy into 8 cm lengths, wash and drain. Shell and dice the century egg; crack the salted egg, separate the white from the yolk and crush the yolk.
2. Heat the oil in the wok and fry the whole garlic cloves over medium heat until golden all over, then the ginger for a moment.
3. Pour in the stock and water, add the century egg and the salted yolk, and boil hard for two minutes so the yolk thickens the stock and turns it gold; then pour in the salted egg white, stir twice and cook until it has fully set. The eggs and the stock must be finished before the greens go in, because the greens get a minute and a half.
4. Add the sugar and pepper, put the A-choy in, lid on for one minute, then lid off, turn it once, and thirty seconds more is enough.
5. A-choy cooks almost at once: the moment it turns deep green and the leaves have just softened, it is done. Give it three minutes and you have a plate of limp grey-green leaves. Amaranth and baby wombok can take three minutes; this leaf cannot.
6. Taste before salting, since the salted egg is salty already. A few drops of sesame oil, and serve it in a deep dish with its stock.

Take care

• Egg (the century egg and the salted egg are both duck eggs), sesame; carton stock usually contains soy and wheat, so read the label. Cook the salted egg white until fully set.

The story

A congee or noodle shop always puts a plate of greens beside the bowl, and a congee or noodle supper at home wants one too. This is the quickest: the method of 上湯莧菜, with a different leaf that halves the time. The page is mostly here to say two things. A-choy is at a Chinese grocer in Australia all year, and it wants a minute and a half, not three.

Same kind

Century egg and salted-pork congeeFish-slice congee, cooked in the pourScholar's congee, with the pork offal

Lo Fo Tong is cultural food-heritage reference, not medical advice. If you are pregnant, unwell or on medication, talk to your doctor or registered practitioner before changing what is in the pot.