Most people eat the "tree" part of the broccoli--the uppermost part of the plant--and toss the stalk away. In my humble (and completely correct) opinion, that's tragic, because the stalk's the best part. It stands up to stir-frying better, tastes great in dips, and doesn't get stuck in your teeth like those annoying little broccoli buds do. Chinese broccoli is nearly all stalk, with bonus lush leaves attached, which is why I love it. You can get it at your local Asian market, or if you go out for dim sum, servers often stroll through with plates of Chinese broccoli with oyster sauce--if they do, grab yourself some.For today's test--in advance of next week's Asian Snax extravaganza--we wrapped one stalk of Chinese broccoli in bacon.
The result
Yummers--the bacon flavor didn't seep into the broccoli very much, but bacon-baking for a few minutes created a lovely two-step between the crisp-cooked bacon, and tender-crisp broccoli stalk. This would make a FABULOUS bacon-party appetizer with little or no modification--we might add a little oyster sauce, maybe teriyaki, but beyond that, this combo doesn't call for anything else but your teeth sinking into it.
The conclusion: Bacon + Chinese broccoli = awesometastic
Next up: Bacon + ice cream cone
omg this sounds so good.
ReplyDelete