I have been eating water spinach for as long as I can remember chewing food. Few children love vegetables, but even as a toddler I loved these long stalks of water spinach that stayed crunchy even when wilted. Of course, it helped that my parents never called it spinach.
The Chinese for water spinach is 空心菜 (kong xin cai)，which literally means “empty-hearted vegetable.” Indeed, the long hollow stalks have the advantage of holding onto all flavorings they are cooked with. Unlike gai lan (Chinese kale) or plain old lettuce, it sops up sauce very well. Often cooks stir-fry it with fermented tofu. But I prefer what Chinese restaurants mean when they say “qing chao”, or “clear stir-fry.”
“Qing chao” is music to the ears whenever I’m in a Chinese restaurant and have just rattled off list of spicy and fried dishes to the waitress, which is more often than not. It adds a healthy dimension to your meal. Same goes for cooking at home. So if you’re ever looking for a side dish to go with my Red-Cooked Pork, General Tso’s Chicken, or Spicy Wok-Fried Chicken.
_________________________________
Other vegetable sides to try:
Silk Road Ginger and Carrot Stir-fry
Fish-Fragrant Eggplant (Yuxiang Qiezi)
_________________________________
Chinese Stir-fried Water Spinach
1 bunch of fresh water spinach, washed
1 tablespoon peanut or vegetable oil
3-5 cloves smashed garlic
1/2 cup water
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon red chili flakes (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste
*Alternatively, you can add a few drops of soy sauce or hoisin sauce instead of chili flakes for flavor
Heat peanut oil in a wok or large skillet over high head. Toss in smashed garlic. When you smell the first hints of garlic, or when the garlic begins to brown, throw in water spinach. Watch as the large bunch wilts and shrinks. Pour in water and cover with lid for 1 minute for stalks to steam through. Add sesame oil, chili flakes if using, salt and pepper. Toss with a spatula or a flick of the wrist. Take water spinach off stove, serve hot with your other mains and sides.
didn’t know that its english name is chinese water spinach… very popular vegetable in SE Asian. supposedly if you eat too much of it you’ll feel sleepy. have you heard that before?
Stir-fried chinese water spinach/kangkung in Indonesia used a touch of shrimp paste (belachan) and sliced red chilies (in addition to the garlic)for flavoring. Simple and delicious.
Exactly how we cook it in Singapore as Peranakans. Sambal belachan Kang Kung!
mel – Really? No, I’ve never heard that it makes you sleepy. Like it has tryptophan?
What a lovely picture! I love this kind of vegetable, too.
Hi Diana, are you sure the vegetable in the photo is water spinach? The stems aren’t hollow. Looks more like chinese spinach 苋菜. Equally yummy in stir-fry.
Yes, my understanding is this is Chinese Spinach, both have soft green leaves…but KangKong or water spinach maintains more crunch more after cooking…
It’s very healthy and easy to prepare. I like it best with chili. It absorbes tastes easily and when you prepare it with a different dressing it tastes differently.
is this what cantonese people call “dou meeuw”?
This is what the Cantonese call Ong Choi. And the Vietnamese also stir fry it with shrimp paste, but soft, unlike Indonesian belachan.
This isn’t the kangkong we normally see in the philippines. Would love to see what these look like raw
This looks awesome and so delicious!
I eat these for dinner almost every night, because I grow them in the backyard, but this looks more like “di gua ye” (literally, yam leaf). I think “kong xing cai” looks different, like, with hollow stems? Either way, I LOVE THIS. and you take awesome pictures, so it doesn’t really matter what it’s called as long as it’s good ;]
I first tasted this in a restaurant about 10 years ago. When I’ve seen it in our nearest Asian grocery, it always looks sad and wilted. Can I grow it in Eastern PA? Does anyone know of a source for seeds?
Your photo of kong xin cai looks delicious! In Georgia, we were able to eat stir fried kong xin cai at restaurants and purchase fresh at Asian markets until few years ago. I was told that the state of Georgia considers them noxious(does not mean poisonous, but they spread quickly and choke out other plants) weeds, and banned the cultivation. They are banned in Florida and Texas.
I love kong xin cai and I miss eating them. I am looking for seeds, so I can grow them in my vegetable garden. I wonder if it is easy to grow. I’ll write when I find the source for seeds.
I loved Kang Kong very much, I have been eating Kang Kong since i was a kid. Mostly my family ate Kangkon with combination of Pork and some of the vegetables like, tomatoes, white radish, Okra, and Anaheim Chile.and we were using that as a soup dish.
Just stir-fried this up for lunch and it tasted just like what I’ve had in restaurants. I added a little soy sauce instead of the chili flakes and it tasted great with some tofu on rice =)