Stir-fried Celery
Origin: Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
Source: Yuan Mei 袁枚, 1792
Ingredients
- celery
- bamboo shoots
Instructions
- Select the white roots of the celery. Stir-fry them in the wok, adding bamboo shoots. Cook until just done—this is the proper heat control (火候). Some in this era stir-fry celery with meat, but this muddles the clarity and turbidity—a confusion of flavors. If undercooked, the vegetable remains crisp but has no taste. A separate preparation, worthy of note: raw celery paired with wild game, which follows its own principles.