The most highly requested Bangla Chinese Recipe is finally here!

Delicious stir fried veggies, smothered in a clear sauce that packs a lot of flavor for how simple it is! This dish is the most basic of Bangla Chinese cuisine, with almost every set menu at Bangladeshi Chinese Restaurants offering this as a side.

You can serve it with plain steamed white rice or Fried Rice. It goes amazingly well with any other of my Bangla Chinese dishes, but I especially love it with some crispy fried chicken and fried rice! You can also try my spicy batter fried chicken, or any other of my Bangla Chinese Recipes.

Some tips:

Make sure to use lots of green chilis as it is an important component to the dish. It’s eaten more like a vegetable here. If you can’t handle too much spice, feel free to deseed the chilis first.

For tough veggies: Like green papaya, thick sliced carrot, baby corn (if you like them soft) etc, you want to boil the veggies for 1-4 minutes in salted water first. This way the other veggies won’t get overcooked when stir frying. Strain the veggies into some ice water to keep them extra crispy and pretty, or time it right so you can put it straight into the stir fry when done.

For the baby corn – fresh baby corn tastes the best and is one of my favorite vegetables! You could use canned but it will not taste the same. The canned baby corn tastes almost pickled, but if you enjoy that, feel free to use them. Make sure to run the corn under water for a bit to get rid of any flavor from the liquid, and you can even let it dry for a bit, or roast it in the air fryer for a few minutes for a sweeter flavor.

You can use any veggies you like for this recipe, some other options are: mushrooms, cauliflower, broccoli, snow peas, potato, sweet corn etc.

You can use either use water or chicken broth for the liquid to add more flavor. Just make sure it is unsalted o adjust your salt accordingly.

You can watch the full process in this video!

INGREDIENTS  

• 3 tbsp vegetable oil
• 6-8 garlic cloves (minced/finely sliced)
• 1/2 large onion (cut into 1 inch cubes, about 2 cups)
• 1 small chicken breast (diced, about 1 cup) + pinch of salt & pepper to taste
• 1/4 green papaya – optional (sliced into 1.5 inch long pieces, about 1 cup)
• 1 large carrot (sliced thin into 1.5 inch long strips, about 2/3 cup)
• 1/4 head of cabbage (cut into 1 inch cubes, about 2 cups)
• 8-10 green chilis (split) – deseed if you want less spicy
• 1 package baby corn (sliced in half lengthwise or through the middle or both, about 1/2 cup)

Sauce

• 2 cups water or unsalted chicken stock
• 2 tbsp corn starch (mix with stock/water)
• 2 tsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• Light pinch of tasting salt (msg)

INSTRUCTIONS

Wash and slice all your veggies and the chicken. Take out all sauce ingredients, and mix the cornstarch with the liquid.

If using hard veggies – Bring a pot of water to a rolling boil, add in some salt, and then your hard veggies (green papaya, carrots if cut thick, baby corn if you like them soft). Boil for a couple minutes until just softened (raw papaya takes about 3-4 minutes). Strain it and spread out on a plate to cool, or immediately put into a bowl of ice cold water to keep them crisp.

Heat your pan on medium high. Add in the oil, garlic, and onions. Fry until the garlic starts to brown a little. Then scoop everything out of the pan, leaving the oil.

Add in a bit more oil if needed, the chicken pieces and some salt and pepper.

Fry for a few minutes until all the pieces are browned, then scoop it out of the pan.

Then throw in the rest of your veggies. Starting with the hardest ones. Stir fry for a couple minutes until they soften a little but don’t brown them too much.

Then add in all of your sauce ingredients, the pre boiled veggies, chicken, onion, and garlic.

Let everything come up to a simmer and cook for a few minutes until the sauce thickens and the veggies are soft to your liking. Do not overcook the veggies.

Taste and adjust salt/sugar/pepper/msg if needed, and take it off the heat.