This Stir-fried Celtuce recipe with wood ear mushrooms may look humble, but it’s one of the most satisfying vegetable stir-fries you can make. It’s also a welcome change from your standard stir-fried greens with garlic!
Just Like the Restaurant
There are some dishes that I always order when we hit our favorite Chinese restaurant, and stir-fried celtuce is one of them.
It may surprise you that a family of Chinese food bloggers hits up their local Chinese restaurant like anyone else, but even a food blogger needs a break sometimes!
The restaurant kitchen manages to cook everything together perfectly, coated in the most delicate of clear glistening sauces, perfect with a bowl of rice. My mom sometimes makes celtuce, but there’s just something about the pared down home-cooked version that never fully did it justice.
That said, after closely examining this dish upon our last restaurant trip (a bit of a wistful memory these days), there are few important keys to making this dish successfully:
- Nothing should be browned! Don’t even let your garlic cook for too long. It’s just not the characteristic of the dish, which is why the ginger and chili peppers are lightly fried first, but the garlic gets added later.
- The celtuce should be just cooked, with a slight crunch. It tastes fresher, and the texture is more pleasing to the palate. No one wants soggy vegetables!
- The sauce is the key. A cornstarch slurry is the secret, flavored with a little Shaoxing wine, stock, and just a pinch of salt and sugar. I also wouldn’t tell on you if you wanted to add a small pinch of MSG.
It’s simple, delicious restaurant cooking at its best!
What is Celtuce?
Celtuce (wōsǔn, 莴笋), also called stem lettuce, is a particular type of lettuce grown specifically for its thick stem.
At first glance, the word If you’ve ever grown lettuce at home only to have the plants shoot prematurely to much taller than your average head of lettuce, with leaves poking off the sides, you know what I’m talking about.
When you buy these long, conical vegetables at the store, you can even see where the leaves were torn off all around the stem. It’s pretty commonly available in Chinese grocery stores along with other spring and summertime vegetables.
Look for specimens that are bright green (not yellowing), without too many brown spots. (Some brown spots where the leaves were removed are ok––you’ll be peeling it before you cook it.)
As for how to cook celtuce? This is my favorite way to prepare it, and one of our family’s favorite ways to eat it. You can also try it in my mom’s recipe for Pork with Garlic Sauce (鱼香肉丝, yuxiang rousi).
Stir-fried Celtuce Recipe Instructions
First, soak the wood ears in warm water to rehydrate (this should take about 30 minutes). You can also do this in advance and store them in the fridge. Rinse and cut them in half or thirds.
Next, peel the tough outer skin off the celtuce using a knife or peeler, and slice into thin ⅛-inch rounds on the diagonal. If using a knife, you could use a paring knife…
Or shave off the outer layer using a sharp chef’s knife:
You just want to reveal the tender green stem underneath the tough, stringy outer layer:
De-seed your peppers, and cut into small chunks. Have all your ingredients ready before you start cooking.
Mix ⅓ cup stock with ¼ teaspoon salt (or salt to taste), ¼ teaspoon sugar, and 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine. Set aside.
Heat your wok over high heat. When it starts smoking, pour 2 tablespoons of oil around the perimeter. Add the ginger and fry gently for 15-30 seconds.
Follow with the dried chili peppers, and cook for another few seconds.
Next, add the chunks of fresh peppers. Stir fry for about 30 seconds.
Add the wood ears. Toss to cook for about 1 minute. Nothing should be browning except the ginger, which can be lightly golden. We’re going for fresh flavors in this dish.
Next, add the garlic…
And the celtuce. Stir-fry for 1 minute.
Add the pre-mixed stock mixture, and stir everything together. At this point, the celtuce and wood ears should be almost cooked to your liking—we like ours with a slight crunchy bite.
Stir up your cornstarch slurry to ensure it’s fully combined, and slowly stream it into the sauce while stirring constantly. Allow the sauce to thicken and coat the vegetables. This should take about 30 seconds.
Plate and serve!
Stir-fried Celtuce with Wood Ear Mushrooms
Ingredients
- 10 dried wood ear mushrooms
- 1 large celtuce stem (also called stem lettuce)
- 1/2 red bell pepper (or 2-3 holland chilies)
- 1/3 cup stock (vegetable or chicken stock, or water)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
- 1/4 teaspoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 4 thin slices ginger
- 1-3 dried chili peppers (kept whole for less spice, or chopped in half for more spice)
- 3 cloves garlic (thinly sliced)
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch (combined with 1 tablespoon water)
Instructions
- First, soak the wood ears in warm water to rehydrate (this should take about 30 minutes). You can also do this in advance and store them in the fridge. When they’re fully rehydrated, rinse and cut them in half or thirds.
- Next, peel the tough outer skin off the celtuce using a paring knife or peeler, and slice into thin ⅛-inch rounds on the diagonal. De-seed your peppers, and cut into small chunks.
- Mix ⅓ cup stock with ¼ teaspoon salt (or salt to taste), ¼ teaspoon sugar, and 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine. Set aside.
- Heat your wok over high heat. When it starts smoking, pour 2 tablespoons of oil around the perimeter. Add the ginger and fry gently for 15-30 seconds. Follow with the dried chili peppers, and cook for another few seconds.
- Next, add the chunks of fresh peppers. Stir fry for about 30 seconds. Add the wood ears. Toss to cook for about 1 minute. Nothing should be browning except the ginger, which can be lightly golden.
- Next, add the garlic and celtuce. Stir-fry for 1 minute. Add the pre-mixed stock mixture, and stir everything together. At this point, the celtuce and wood ears should be almost cooked to your liking—we like ours with a slight crunchy bite.
- Stir up your cornstarch slurry to ensure it’s fully combined, and slowly stream it into the sauce while stirring constantly. Allow the sauce to thicken and coat the vegetables. This should take about 30 seconds. Plate and serve!
Lianna says
What a keeper! Super easy to make and quite yummy. Made the twice cooked pork to go with this, delicious. Thank you for all your recipes fam!
Judy says
That’s wonderful to hear, Lianna! So glad you enjoyed it.
Sabena says
This recipe is a keeper, a nice deviation from the usual green and garlic stir fry like you mentioned. Celtuce is also pretty exotic where I am (Indonesia), but we have plenty of fresh woods-ear mushroom and I sub celtuce for brocolli stem. Delicious! Thank you so much for sharing.
Kaitlin says
Thanks, Sabena! Broccoli stems are a great substitution :)
Irene says
🤗 Managed to make it just like how we usually eat it in the restaurant but instead of Celtuce .. it was made with celery, bell pepper and nuts instead. It is hard to get Celtuce in my country. The dish came out so perfectly delicious. Thank you so much.
From : A novice cook
Kaitlin says
Thank you, Irene! Good substitution!
Gina Graff says
It will be a while before I can make this gorgeous dish. I just got my celtuce seeds in the mail today — never seen this veg before, not even in our hip Vermont farmers market.
Meanwhile, any suggestions for a sub? Maybe romaine or Chinese cabbage ribs with some celery stalks? Thanks.
Bill says
Hi Gina, would love to hear back from you when you harvest!
Krista says
Celtuce is so delicious! I think it tastes like popcorn and it looks like jade. Wood ears would be a good textural contrast — will give this a try!
Bill says
Hi Krista, totally agree with you, celtuce is very attractive and tasty when prepared correctly.
Penny says
I just love your web page and recipes. I’ve not gotten brave enough to try a lot of them but I’m learning a lot about cooking chinese food. I made the Shrimp with Lobster sauce and was amazed at how easy it was and how well it turned out.
I do have a question, is a heavy duty non-stick wok “okay” to cook recipes with? I notice all of yours appear to be with the stainless steel, look seasoned of sorts and you are cooking with a gas stove, I have electric.
Another question I have is can your recipes with sauces/gravies perhaps be cooked in where gravies are made first then add veggies? I have a hard time catching up on some of it and I’m afraid I’ll ruin it because it is going pretty fast and was thinking of doing sauce in my big wok and my veggies in the other smaller wok.
Bill says
Hi Penny, just about all of our woks are carbon steel. The concern I have about non-stick is that they don’t last long, and the non-stick surface deteriorates over time, which can be bad for our health. Also, non-stick surfaces are not meant to be heated past a certain point, and release toxic chemicals if overheated. As you may already know, wok cooking requires very high heat! I would avoid non-stick woks as a general rule.
As far as precooking the veggies and then adding them back after making the gravy, yes, that method works! We use it in our beef and broccoli recipe, and the same method can be used for other dishes as well.
Rick H. says
In a previous comment, I mentioned using kohlrabi in a stir fry. Looking at these pictures, the structure of the vegetable is similar with a fibrous outer layer and a tender crunchy vegetable inside. What is the flavor of celtuce? Is it celery flavored? Kohlrabi is very mild with a hint of cabbage but not much. Next time I have some kohlrabi, I will try it and let you know. I haven’t seen celtuce at my Asian Market.
Judy says
Hi Rick, Celtuce is very refreshing. It tastes somewhere between celery and lettuce, cooked. Have you tried cooked lettuce before? You must––it’s so good. Here is the recipe: Stir-Fried Lettuce, A Healthy Cooked Lettuce Recipe
Jack says
Celutice is very different from kohlrabi. Kohlrabi is in the cabbage family and has a strong cabbage taste. It often benefits from being salted, squeezed and made into a cold salad. Celutice is a kind of lettuce and has very delicate flavor which is hard to describe. The textures are also different — kohlrabi is harder and more crunchy in texture. Both vegetables are good but they are different.
Bill says
Hi Rick, It is hard to describe, but if you think of romaine lettuce or better yet, if you have some fresh romaine and then try the celtuce, you will taste that it is almost like a concentrated version of romaine lettuce.
priya says
I never tried cooking celtuce before. I think I should try. I am planning to have this steamed rice.
Bill says
Hi Priya, definitely you should give it a try!