Our “green journey” will begin with a very simple five minute Chinese salad. As the vegetables are slightly cooked and the salad is eaten hot I like to call it "hot salad".
In China most people (if not all) do not eat raw vegetables. Even the slightest suggestion to try out a raw vegetable brings about a reaction that shows clearly that this is not going to happen. Although there is a stable logic behind their choices and their traditional diet we will not discuss it now.
The hot salad shared here is one of the most common side dishes in China (especially the Southern part). It is called Qing Cai (meaning green vegetable/green grass) and it pertains to all kinds of green leafy vegetables, which are abundant here in China. Any green leafy vegetable in your local supermarket can be prepared with this recipe, including spinach. I suggest you choose firmer vegetables for better crunch effect. I chose Shanghai grass - one of my favorite.
I like to soak my vegetables in water and baking soda for 10-15 minutes to remove pesticide residue. So we start by soaking (if you like) and washing our vegetables first.
Second we prepare the sauce - 3-4 tablespoons soy sauce, 1 teaspoon sugar (I use brown), salt (I use sea salt) and cooking oil. Here I use coconut oil to enhance the healing benefits but if you are not fond of the combination feel free to use oil that suits your taste. You could try sesame oil which gives the salad a special Eastern flavor or simply sunflower oil which does not change the flavor and is used in the traditional version.
We add one small cup of water to the mixture, bring it to boil while stirring, and set it aside - the sauce is done!
Now we cook our green leafy vegetables. The trick here is not to overcook them meaning they need to be crunchy not soft. We put water in a pan and bring it to boil. We add the veggetables and let them boil no longer than a minute. Please note that if the vegetable is softer and thinner it will cook faster so keep checking it with a fork if it is still firm.
We take the vegetables out, put them on a plate and pour the sauce on top (even though it is hot). And … we are ready! A healthy easy to make side dish to cleanse and stimulate the Liver. Enjoy!
