Sang Choy Bao
Sang Choy Bao
I seem to have had more than my fair share of cooking disasters in the last week or two. I could blame any number of things, like the oppressive and mind numbing humidity, but I’m going to simply take it on board as a lesson in life not to let my concentration lapse.
My head is full of plans for a new kitchen. Cooking currently relegates me to a dark and uninviting corner of our living area. When working at either the sink or the cooker my back is turned to both the light and conversation. It makes me impatient to finish the task.
To avoid further disenchantment, I planned this dish meticulously. Previous Sang Choy Bao ventures had taught me the success of the dish is as much about texture and consistency as it is the flavour. It must be moist and tasty, have some crunchy texture and be spoonable, but meaty juices flowing down your arm are not a good look. There’s a fine balance.
Our lunch was seriously delicious, but that wasn’t the end of my woes.
I took about 20 photos before we demolished the Sang Choy Bao. When I sat down to review the images afterwards, I discovered something weird had happened. It was if the camera only transferred half of each photo to the card. The only reason I have an image at all is because I stopped shooting to reposition the tripod allowing the camera an extra second to almost complete it’s task. I am thankful for this one photo.
Sang Choy Bao serves 4 with other dishes
2 baby cos lettuces
10g dried shiitake mushrooms soaked for 15 minutes in boiling water
60g water chestnuts, finely diced
100g carrot, julienne
60g green beans, finely julienned
3 large wombok leaves finely shredded
2 small heads of bok choy, finely shredded
50g snow peas cut into fine julienne
2 tablespoons garlic chives snipped into 1cm lengths
1 heaped tablespoon grated ginger
2 chicken thighs, finely shredded
1 tablespoon cornflour
1 tablespoon peanut oil
1 tablespoon hoi sin sauce
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1/2 tablespoon light soy
2 tablespoons shoaxing cooking wine
1 teaspoon sesame oil
Select 12-14 large and perfect leaves from the lettuces. Wash and spin dry them and set aside in the fridge until you’re ready to serve.
Drain the mushrooms, squeeze out as much water as possible then finely chop. Discard any hard stems.
Mix the shredded chicken with the cornflour.
Combine all the sauces together in a small bowl.
Heat a wok until smoking, add the peanut oil and swirl to coat the surface.
Add the chicken and stir fry until it begins to brown. Add the ginger and mushrooms and toss a few times to stir through.
Add the water chestnuts, beans, carrots.
Toss the veggies through the chicken mixture then add the sauces a little at a time so that the temperature of the wok doesn’t drop significantly.
Once the vegetables have wilted and the sauces have formed a thick glaze, stir through the cabbage and bok choy.
Turn off the heat then immediately stir through the snow peas and chives.
Serve the chicken and vegetables rolled in the lettuce leaves.
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30 comments on “Sang Choy Bao”
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Please Pass the Recipe by Sandra Gay is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License.
Please Pass the Recipe 
my mum used to make this back in the day and I loved it! Need to introduce this to my gals.
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Kids love any food that lets them ditch the cutlery and use fingers
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The starter has arrived! 😁💕 Thank so much!
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Great news, have fun..
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What rotten luck! It’s bad whenever it happens – and I think we’ve all had similar experiences — but when the weather is insufferable, I just want to shake my fist at the heavens. You did salvage one photo, however, and it is a good one, Sandra. The dish looks delicious and I like the fresh lettuce leaves within it. There’s some of that texture of which you spoke. 🙂
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Thanks John, yes sometimes everything seems impossible, but thankfully normal life does resume..
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Heat and humidity is sapping – must have got to the camera!. Good to know you got one lovely pic – and it looks delicious.
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Thanks Sal, this is my first summer in the tropics, most of the time I’m OK but clearly the camera isn’t
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Looks delicious. And so glad to know that I’m not the only one such disasters happen to!
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Glad to know I’m in fine company X
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Phew, one photo! I know you will create beauty from the disarray but the process can be so frustrating. This looks like a tops lunch.
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Thanks Cheery, was on a downer last week, but I’ve taken a deep breath and feeling much more in control, although I’d love to know what happened with the camera. I can’t fault it now
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I love Asian flavors and this is a dish I’ve not tried before…but not for long. It sounds delicious.
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Sang Choy Bao is on every Chinese restaurant menu here in Oz. When they are good they are very very good, well worth trying to reproduce. I hope you like my version Karen…
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This soup looks so delicious! I love all of the fresh veggies and flavors.
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Thanks Julie, fresh is good
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I think it might have a lot to do with the kitchen being in disarray. I have had quite a few disaster this week too, as I spend half my time at the beach and the other at home catching up with the garden and other jobs. The Sang Choi Bao looks delicious and so healthy too.
That dish reminds me of a silly little argument I used to have with my eldest grand child ( who is now 19) who insisted on calling the dish Sang Boy Chow for years, long after such childish mistakes were cute. It was always her favourite thing to eat at a Chinese restaurant.
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This looks and sounds delicious and I will definitely try it. I hate it when a recipe is a success, but the photos aren’t.
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Cooking disasters occur for all of us no matter what kitchen we have. Oh well….Your one successful photo shows a very appetizing dish.
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I’m glad you had the one photo, it looks truly delicious. Good luck with the continued cooking until the reno begins. I’ve come to accept that my kitchen isn’t changing anytime soon and deal with what I have!
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I know it’s more than the kitchen that’s to blame when things don’t work out, but I do get frustrated, especially after having such a terrific work space in our last home. I’m lucky to have the opportunity to create my ideal kitchen. I’ll have to bear the brunt of failures then!
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We’ve all been there, Sandra – when nothing seems to go right. I usually tell myself that those failures (particularly the spectacular ones) make interesting stories afterwards. This salad, despite the camera incident, looks really nice and fresh. Hope the kitchen plans are going well and that you will soon be in a nice, open, bright, cool kitchen where one can cook AND entertain.
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Thanks Deb, there are times when I feel everything is plotting against me, I will beat it, but sadly it’s still be a few months before the improvements are even begun. We’re moving in the right direction though. This week has been better….
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I’ve had several ‘fails’ in my cooking efforts this passed week too, Sandra. I really sympathize with your makeshift cooking circumstance. Ours lasted about six weeks with only a microwave, an electric fry pan, toaster, kettle, and the barbie. Our daughter told me a few years later she actually enjoyed that experience! I suppose it was a bit like camping or something 🙂
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Must be the way the stars are aligned Ardys, something is askew with the universe and my position in it. It will still be a few months until the reno begins but meanwhile I have to make the best of a less than ideal situation. Let me know when you’re ready for some spelt sourdough starter. It’s dried, tested for it’s vigor and ready to go.
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Oh, thank you Sandra! Are there instructions to go with it? Chances are I won’t use it until we are back from the next stage of travels which begin at the end of the month, so you can either send now and I’ll freeze it or send in mid-April. Ardys Zoellner, 34 The Fairway, Desert Springs, NT, 0870. You will really enjoy the reno when it is over, given the slow build up to it. My old kitchen was horrible and I can’t believe the difference. I spent an estimated 100 hours on drawings, sourcing surfaces, colours and appliances, but so worth it.
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Hi Ardys, I’ll pop the spelt starter with instructions in the mail to you in the next day or so. The dried flakes will keep in the fridge. I can’t vouch for the success of freezing the liquid starter although others swear by it. I baked an overnight loaf this week, it fermented for about 16 hours, was the crowning jewel in my bread baking ventures so far.
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Now I’m excited. I may not be able to help myself and have try it before we leave. Will you tell me how to dry it so I can do that when we travel? Also, please remind me which spelt flour you use? I think you said Coles but our Coles may not carry the same one and I may have to see what the health food store has. Thx so much!
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I couldn’t wait to bake after I received starter from Celia. I’m off to the PO now, hopefully Auspost does their job quickly. The answers to your question are with the instructions in the package. Have fun.
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Will let you know when it arrives 🙂 Thank you!
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