How to make Chinese sizzling vegetable pot (jer jer choi), a delicious homestyle dish that takes minutes to cook
- This dish of Chinese broccoli or kale with dried shrimps and shrimp paste is great for the Lunar New Year
- The dish cooks in minutes, but you must preheat the clay pot in the oven for 20 minutes before starting
Jer jer (sometimes spelled je je) is a cooking style that gets its name from the sound the ingredients supposedly make as they sizzle in a clay pot. Often, it refers to chicken served in a clay pot, but it is also used for vegetables.
This is a great dish for the Lunar New Year. It takes just a few minutes to cook, and is absolutely delicious.
For a New Year feast, you might want to use Chinese lettuce (or small heads of romaine) – cut through the stem into four wedges – because sang choi is considered an auspicious vegetable; it is supposed to bring wealth. Lettuce needs to be cooked briefly, though, so that it retains its crisp texture.
A sturdier vegetable, such as gai lan (Chinese broccoli or kale) is more forgiving with the cooking time, so that’s what I use. Buy Chinese broccoli or kale with stalks that are about 2cm (¾ inch) in diameter at the thickest point. The stems take longer to cook than the leaves, so prepare them as directed.
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There are several types of fermented shrimp paste. I love the hard, crumbly type that comes in a small brick, but it’s not easy to use – you have to crumble it first, then mash it with some liquid, otherwise you are in danger of having lumps of the pungent paste in the dish, and the taste can be overwhelming.
For this recipe, I prefer to use a thick, spoonable shrimp paste that comes in jars.
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Jer jer choi (Chinese sizzling vegetable pot)
Before cooking with any type of shrimp paste, be sure to turn the kitchen ventilation as high as it will go; you might also want to open the kitchen windows. Be warned that this is a very strong-tasting dish, so if you’re not used to shrimp paste, use the smaller amount listed.
For the dried shrimp, buy the larger ones (about 2cm or ¾ inch long), and if possible, the semi-dried, pliant type – they shouldn’t be completely dried and hard.
Although the dish takes only a few minutes to cook, you need to heat the clay pot in the oven at 220 degrees Celsius for about 20 minutes. When using a clay pot, don’t expose it to sudden extremes of temperature, or it might crack. Put the pot in a cold oven, and then turn on the heat. For the same reason, when you take the pot out of the oven before putting the ingredients into it, place it on a folded-up dry tea towel or a wooden cutting board, rather than a cold work surface.
Ingredients
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10 grams (⅓ oz) Chinese dried shrimp
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350-400 grams (12½ oz-14 oz) Chinese broccoli or kale
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1 large shallot, peeled
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1 large garlic clove, peeled
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2-3 thin slices peeled ginger
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½ red banana chilli, preferably a long, slender one
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20-30 grams (¾ oz-1 oz) fermented shrimp paste
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10ml (2 tsp) rice wine
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½ tsp sugar
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¼ tsp fine sea salt
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About 15ml (1 tbsp) cooking oil
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15ml (1 tbsp) rice wine (optional, to finish the dish)
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1 At least 20 minutes before you want to cook the dish, put a glazed Chinese clay pot (with its lid) that holds about two litres into an oven and set it to 220 degrees Celsius (430 degrees Fahrenheit).
2 Put the dried shrimp in a bowl and add 15ml (1 tbsp) of cool water. Leave to soak while preparing the other ingredients.
3 Prepare the Chinese broccoli or kale. Lay a stalk on the cutting board, and trim off any leaves that are on the thick part of the stem. Set aside the leaves. Cut the stalk into three pieces: the bottom and middle parts about 5cm (2 in) long, and the top part with the leaves attached by a thin stem. Put the top parts with the leaves that were trimmed off the stems.
4 On both ends of the bottom pieces of the stalk, cut a 2cm-deep (¾ inch) X. On both ends of the middle pieces of the stalk, make a 2cm-deep (¾ inch) cut. Keep the middle and bottom pieces of the stalk separate from the leaves and tops of the vegetable.
5 Cut the shallot into quarters, then thinly slice them. Roughly mince the garlic and thinly slice the chilli on the diagonal. Cut the ginger into fine shreds.
6 Put the shrimp paste in a bowl and stir in 10ml (2 tsp) of rice wine, the sugar and salt. Pour the shrimp soaking liquid into the bowl and stir.
7 Heat a wok over a high flame, add the cooking oil, then swirl the wok so it’s lightly coated. Add the shallot, ginger, garlic and chilli, and stir-fry for about 10 seconds.
8 Add the dried shrimp and the middle and bottom pieces of the Chinese broccoli or kale to the wok and cook for about 45 seconds, stirring often. Push the ingredients to the centre of the wok.
9 Add the tops and leaves, placing them in a layer over the other ingredients. Leave for about 15 seconds, then pour in the shrimp paste mixture. Mix well, then stir-fry over a high flame for about 30 seconds.
10 Leave the heat on high under the wok. Use tongs to lift the vegetables out of the wok into the clay pot, letting the liquid in the wok simmer for about 30 seconds to reduce it slightly. Pour the liquid and any other ingredients in the wok into the clay pot.
11 Put the lid on the pot. If you want to add a nice fragrance to the dish, pour 15ml (1 tbsp) of rice wine around the edges of the lid. Serve immediately.
Food styling: Nellie Ming Lee. Kitchen courtesy of Junk Kitchen.
