Oyster sauce lettuce, a traditional Cantonese dish originating from Guangdong, carries the profound heritage of the Lingnan region's pursuit of delicious ingredients. As early as the end of the Qing Dynasty, with the invention and popularization of oyster sauce, this cooking method combining fresh vegetables with the essence of seafood began to become popular. Legend has it that a chef named Chef Chen from the Thirteen Lines of Guangzhou first incorporated oyster sauce into stir-fried lettuce, and with its delicious taste and healthy image, oyster sauce lettuce quickly became popular in the Pearl River Delta and became an indispensable dish on the home-cooked table.
**COOKING STEPS**
1. **Prepare Materials**
- Lettuce (500g), fresh lettuce with plump green leaves.
- Oyster sauce (30g), preferably pure oyster sauce of good quality.
- Garlic cloves (3 cloves, about 15g), minced garlic and set aside.
- Light soy sauce (15ml) for freshness and color.
- Clean water (to taste) for a quick blanch.
- Peanut oil (15 ml) for sautéing minced garlic.
2. **Handling Ingredients**
- Step 1: Wash the lettuce, tear it into slices of the appropriate size and set aside.
- Step 2: Boil a pot of hot water, add a pinch of salt and oil, blanch the lettuce quickly until it is broken, remove and drain.
3. **炒制蚝油酱汁**
- Step 3: Add peanut oil to the pan and stir-fry the minced garlic over low heat until it is slightly yellow and fragrant.
- Step 4: Add the oyster sauce and light soy sauce, heat slightly and stir well to make the oyster sauce sauce.
4. **Mixed Plate**
- Step 5: Drizzle the sautéed oyster sauce sauce over the blanched lettuce and mix well so that each leaf of lettuce is coated with the sauce.
- Step 6: Decorate and serve.
The key to the deliciousness of oyster sauce lettuce lies in the unique mellow aroma of oyster sauce and the freshness and crispness of lettuce. Blanching lettuce not only retains its tender taste but also effectively removes pesticide residues, while oyster sauce, rich in amino acids and trace elements, increases the nutritional value of the dish and highlights the original flavor of the ingredients when cooked with lettuce.
**Precautions**
- Blanch lettuce for too long to avoid losing its crisp texture and nutrients.
- Oyster sauce itself has a certain salty taste, so you should pay attention to the amount of soy sauce when preparing the sauce to avoid it being too salty.
The same lettuce and oyster sauce can also be used to cook other vegetable dishes such as oyster sauce, broccoli, oyster sauce and kale, by adjusting the cooking time and heat according to the characteristics of different vegetables.
**TIPS**
- After washing the lettuce, use a paper towel to blot the excess water on its surface to ensure that the oyster sauce sauce is absorbed more quickly during subsequent cooking.
- Stir the oyster sauce sauce well before heating to ensure that all ingredients can fully absorb the flavor of the oyster sauce.
When you cook oyster sauce lettuce by hand, you seem to feel the refreshing beating of the green lettuce on the tip of the tongue, and the nose tip lingers with the rich aroma of oyster sauce and garlic. By using these ingredients and techniques in your culinary journey, you'll discover even more culinary possibilities and make every day at the table full of surprises and anticipation.