In my fridge were chicory (radicchio), broccoli (from my windowbox, will post an update Monday, 12/10), napa cabbage, carrots and sunchoke.
Thinking, what if I make a stir-fry combining all those veggies? What would this medley taste like? Would cooking rid the chicory of its bitter taste?
Only way to find out is to make it. And so I did. The cooking did not rid the chicory of its bitter taste, but the sweetness of the napa cabbage balanced the taste and mellowed the flavor. Cooking did cause it to lose its bright red color. The sunchoke added a nice crunch (will get soft and add a creamy texture if cooked longer). Really liked the finished dish. The Asian sesame oil and toasted sesame seeds gave the dish an extra touch.
Sunchoke (also known as Jerusalem artichoke) has a high content of inulin that some people are unable to digest thus causing intestinal distress (extreme gas pain). If you never tried sunchoke before, click here to learn more.
Stir-fry Chicory, Nappa, Broccoli, Sunchoke and Carrot
(No quantity is given as it does not matter for this recipe. Super easy and healthy.)
Ingredients
• Chicory, cut into bite-sized pieces
• Napa, cut into bite-sized pieces
• Broccoli, cut into bite-sized pieces
• Sunchoke, peeled and thinly sliced
• Carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
• Small onion, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1 – 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 – 3 slices fresh ginger or from ginger wine
• 1 – 2 tablespoons oil
• ½ – 1 teaspoon kosher salt or to taste
• 1 – 2 teaspoons Asian sesame oil
• 2 – 3 teaspoons toasted black or white sesame seeds
• Scallion, cut into about 1-inch lengths, for garnish (scallion is from the stubs I planted on 11/4/12 click here and scroll down)
Preparations
1. Add oil to preheated wok or frying pan. Add onion, garlic and ginger. Stir-fry until onion is translucent.
2. Add salt, napa, broccoli, sunchoke and carrots. Stir-fry until broccoli turns bright green. Add chicory, stir-fry until veggies reached desired doneness. Stir in sesame oil.
3. Transfer to serving platter. Garnish with toasted sesame seeds and scallion. Serve hot or at room temp.
The sunchoke slices in the dish reminded me of sliced scallops. Thinking, this medley would pair well with scallops.
Of course you can use this cooking method to cook any combination of veggies.
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Copyright © by Norma Chang. All Rights Reserved. Do not use/repost any photos and/or articles without permission.
Garden to Wok 
Norma, I’m so glad you put in that caveat about the sunchokes. I’m get so aggravated when I read recipes and articles highlighting this vegetable without letting readers know about the possible gastric distress–which can be no joke! 😀
Hello FC,
Yes, the gastric distress can be very severe.
Oh my goodness – looks sooooo yummy!! I love sunchoke – but I do limit the amount I eat at any one time. It can be a bit gassey.
Hello Judy,
This is one of those cases where too much of a good thing is bad for you.
Your dish look delicious. I haven’t had a stirfry in so long
Hello Daphne,
Thanks. I am sure you have plenty veggies in your garden at the moment to do a stir-fry.
That really is an interesting combination, and it sounds so good the way you’ve described the resulting cooked textures and flavors balancing each other. I did not know this about sunchoke, but haven’t had it very often, either. Good to know.
Hello Betsy,
This issue is similar to dried beans, not everyone is bothered.
I can eat them once – but they will bother me if I eat them the next day, and on the third day, wow! Best is once a week.
Hello Mary,
Does it matter how much you eat at one sitting?
Your stir fry sounds good with the combination of vegetables that you used.
Hello Karen,
I was pleasantly surprised, will surely make the combo again.
That looks fantastic Norma – so full of color and great nutrients!
Hello Alyssa,
Thanks. I was so surprised at the results.
It sure looks flavourful and healthy Norma, a very nice dish, and if you just add a bit of tofu, so yummy! And I really love the sesame seeds, just for some crunch, visual and a wonderful flavour.
Hello Eva,
Thanks. Didn’t know you were into tofu. I was going to do black and white sesame seeds but ran out of white.
LOVE LOVE LOVE tofu!
Hello Eva,
Glad to know.
This stirfry looks fantastic my friend 😀
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Hello Uru,
Thanks, it was delicious too.
What a lovely looking dish Norma – so colourful too! I love sunchokes (though we call them jerusalem artichokes here). Tasty and so versatile. Luckily I don’t have any problem digesting them 😀
Hello Charles,
They are also referred to as Jerusalaem artichokes here also. Glad you do not have problem digesting them. Are they readily available where you are? How do you prepare them?
Hi Norma – yeah, they’re super easy to come by here, and cheap as chips too. They’re called “topinambours” in French (or something like that)… took me a while to realise what they were and now we get them a fair bit. We use them like water chesnuts in stir-fries, and I also roast them and then make soup.
Hello Charles,
I like to roast them together with other roots veggies and serve as a side. Soup sounds good.
What great post, Norma! The fact that you were able to make a medley featuring vegetables from your garden in December is remarkable. And what a medley you prepared! This sounds delicious. Then, on top of it all, you introduce me to inulin. I’ve considered trying sunchokes and now I know to do so, but with caution. Thank you.
Hello John,
Thanks. Let me know how you like sunchoke after you tried them, hope you do not have digesting problem. A very interesting food item. The taste is quite different crunchy versus soft.
The gassy sunchoke is not a friend of mine but maybe I could try it in really small bits. 🙂 Lovely plate, Norma.
Hello Maureen,
Let me know if you are affected.
Learned something again! Was almost afraid of the ‘sunchoke’ mentioned until i learned it was the jerusalem artichoke: eat heaps of those!! Lovely recipe – and, here Down Under, I would make 4-5 strifries a week almost for breakfast/lunch and dinner 🙂 ! I’ll tweak it further either with a tad of oyster sauce or kecap manis [sweet indonesian soy]: both add delightful sweetness 🙂 !
Hello Eha,
Should have noted in my post that sunchoke is also known as Jerusalem artichoke. Made the update.
I love the mix. The stir-fry must be very tasty too.
Hello Angie,
It was tasty. Too bad the chicory did not retain its color.
Looks delicious! I haven’t made a stir fry in ages-thanks for the reminder. Too bad I’m not growing anything at the moment…off to the farmers market…(:
Hello Jennifer,
Thanks for stopping by. Good that you have a farmer’s market to go to.
Kudos for taking a chance on the chicory. Even though the bitterness didn’t go away, at least you were surprised by the mellow balancing with the napa cabbage!
Hello YC,
It was a very interesting combination in a good way, at least for me. It would not work for someone who dislikes bitter tasting veggies.
I really need to make more stir fries. And I should really try it with sesame oil. We all really enjoy sesame oil. Maybe the kids will even eat some more veggies that way. 🙂