Yuk sung has been a favourite in Chinese restaurants and take-aways for many years. In this version, the crunchy cauliflower, soft onion and rich aromatic Cantonese sauce is served in a classic iceberg lettuce leaf and topped with crispy vermicelli and creamy cashew nuts.
Ingredients
Serves: 3-4
Prep: 30min
Cook:15min
- 1 medium cauliflower
- 1½ tbsp dark soy sauce
- 3tbsp shop-bought mushroom stir-fry sauce
- 1tbsp rice wine
- 1tbsp sugar
- 1tbsp Donegal Rapeseed oil
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1tbsp grated fresh ginger
- 3 spring onions, thinly sliced
- 1 white onion, finely diced
- 1 large carrot, finely diced
- 2 celery sticks, finely diced
- 1 x 220g can water chestnuts, drained and finely diced
- 1tbsp sesame oil
- A handful of vermicelli noodles
- 1 iceberg lettuce, separated into large leaves
- 40g roasted cashew nuts, roughly crushed
Method
- Cut the hard core and stalk from the cauliflower and separate into bite-sized florets.
- In a small bowl, mix the soy sauce, mushroom stir-fry sauce, rice wine and sugar.
- Gently heat the table-spoon of oil in a wok, add the garlic, ginger and spring onions and fry until aromatic.
- Add the cauliflower, diced onion, carrot, celery and water chest-nuts and cook for 3-5min, or until tender and browned.
- Add the soy sauce mixture and stir in well, continuing to cook over a high heat until the sauce has reduced. Once the mixture becomes quite dry, turn off the heat and drizzle with the sesame oil.
- Heat 250ml ground nut oil in a deep-sided frying pan, take a handful of vermicelli rice noodles and add them to the hot oil. They will puff up fast, so be ready to quickly push down any that are still transparent.
- Scoop them out as soon as they are puffed and white, and drain on kitchen paper be-fore serving.
- To serve, take a heaped spoonful of the cauliflower yuk sung and place in a lettuce leaf. Add a sprinkle of fried vermicelli and a pinch of crushed cashew nuts, wrap and eat.
- Recipe courtesy of Kwanghi Chan and Compass Ireland
