Add this Zucchini with Garlic Sauce to your rotation when you have more zucchini or yellow squash than you know what to do with! Ground pork, plenty of garlic and scallions, and just a little heat from dried red chilies makes this a new summertime favorite at our house.
For Anyone Who Loves Eggplant with Garlic Sauce
If you’ve tried our Eggplant with Garlic Sauce, you’ll recognize the method here right away. It has the same slightly sweet, tangy garlic sauce and quick wok technique—just with zucchini instead of eggplant. It comes together fast, which makes it a great weeknight dish alongside a bowl of rice.
The key step is wok searing the zucchini over high heat. This does two things: it gives the zucchini good color and flavor from the sear, and it draws out excess moisture so you end up with a firm, tender texture instead of soggy, squishy squash.
Sarah uses the technique of salting zucchini before cooking to draw excess water out, but here, we cut the zucchini into larger pieces so it doesn’t go soggy as quickly. The wok can just do the work for you!
How to Select Zucchini
I know it’s tempting when growing or buying zucchini to buy the largest ones or let them run rampant in the garden until they are huge. That’s fine if you have a big crowd to feed and are trying to be mindful of money and resources, but smaller to medium-sized zucchini are actually best, because the larger they get, the more seeds they have and the higher the water content.
Even with the best wok technique, your zucchini stir-fry can turn out more waterlogged, which translates to less wok hei and flavor in the final dish!
It took Judy and I a long time to learn this. Growing up with less, we always wanted bigger vegetables and more of them from our garden. But in many cases, it’s best to harvest at the optimal time and enjoy a smaller quantity of a better product.
What Makes a Restaurant-style Chinese Garlic Sauce?
Garlic sauce is beloved because it has the perfect blend of salty, savory, tangy, a little spicy, and garlicky. The key to a good one is oyster sauce and rice vinegar.
Oyster sauce makes everything taste better. It adds the umami and sweetness that this sauce needs to shine. The rice vinegar gives the dish that familiar tanginess. Don’t skip either one if you want a good result! (Though you can opt for a vegetarian oyster sauce if you want to omit the meat and make this vegetarian.)
With the exception of the rice vinegar, all the ingredients we call for here are in our 10 Essential Chinese Pantry Ingredients list, which we recommend having on hand to cook the vast majority of our recipes!
Looking for more ways to use summer zucchini?
Check out more of our favorite zucchini recipes:
Recipe Instructions
In a small bowl, add the hot water and stir in the sugar to dissolve. Then add the cornstarch, oyster sauce, rice vinegar, Shaoxing wine, soy sauce, sesame oil, dark soy sauce, and white pepper. Stir in half of the chopped garlic and set this mixture aside.
Scrub the zucchini under running water (no need to peel it). Trim the ends off, and cut them on an angle into triangular bite-size chunks, rotating the zucchini with each cut as you go along.
Have all your ingredients ready before you turn on the stove!
Heat a wok over medium-high heat until it’s lightly smoking. Add 2 tablespoons of neutral oil around the perimeter of the wok to evenly coat it. Spread the zucchini pieces in a single layer, reduce the heat to medium, and cook for 3-4 minutes, flipping and stirring occasionally while maintaining a single layer until they are lightly browned and soft. Transfer the zucchini to a plate.
Increase the heat to high. Add the remaining ½ tablespoon of oil to the wok. Then add the ground meat and cook until opaque, breaking it up into small bits.
Add the ginger and dried chilies. Stir until fragrant, about 10 seconds. Add the white parts of the scallions and the remaining tablespoon of garlic. Cook for another 20 seconds, stirring constantly, until the aromatics are toasted and fragrant.
Add the seared zucchini back to the wok, and stir-fry until combined. Stir the sauce again to ensure the cornstarch is well combined with the liquid, then add it to the wok. Mix well and bring to a simmer, cooking until the sauce is reduced and just thick enough to coat a spoon. Stir in the green parts of the scallions until they’re just starting to wilt.
Serve immediately with plenty of steamed rice!
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Recipe
Zucchini with Garlic Sauce
Ingredients
- ½ cup hot water
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1½ tablespoons oyster sauce (or vegetarian oyster sauce)
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine (or dry cooking sherry)
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- ½ teaspoon dark soy sauce
- ⅛ teaspoon white pepper
- 2 tablespoons minced garlic (about 6 cloves, divided)
- 1½ pounds zucchini (and/or summer squash)
- 2½ tablespoons neutral oil (such as vegetable, canola, avocado, or peanut oil, divided)
- 4 ounces ground meat (pork, chicken or turkey)
- 2 teaspoons minced ginger
- 5-10 dried red chilies (de-seeded and sliced into small pieces)
- 2 scallions (cut at an angle into 2-inch/5cm pieces, white and green parts separated)
Instructions
- In a small bowl, add the hot water and stir in the sugar to dissolve. Then add the cornstarch, oyster sauce, rice vinegar, Shaoxing wine, soy sauce, sesame oil, dark soy sauce, and white pepper. Stir in half of the chopped garlic and set this mixture aside.
- Scrub the zucchini under running water (no need to peel it). Trim the ends off, and cut them on an angle into triangular bite-size chunks, rotating the zucchini with each cut as you go along.
- Heat a wok over medium-high heat until it’s lightly smoking. Add 2 tablespoons of neutral oil around the perimeter of the wok to evenly coat it. Spread the zucchini pieces in a single layer, reduce the heat to medium, and cook for 3-4 minutes, flipping and stirring occasionally while maintaining a single layer until they are lightly browned and soft. Transfer the zucchini to a plate.
- Increase the heat to high. Add the remaining ½ tablespoon of oil to the wok. Add the ground meat and cook until opaque, breaking it up into small bits.
- Add the ginger and dried chilies. Stir until fragrant, about 10 seconds. Add the white parts of the scallions and the remaining tablespoon of garlic. Cook for another 20 seconds, stirring constantly, until the aromatics are toasted and fragrant.
- Add the seared zucchini back to the wok, and stir-fry until combined. Stir the sauce again to ensure the cornstarch is well combined with the liquid, then add it to the wok. Mix well and bring to a simmer, cooking until the sauce is reduced and just thick enough to coat a spoon. Stir in the green parts of the scallions until they’re just starting to wilt. Serve immediately with plenty of steamed rice!
