I can think of bok choi(大白菜, napa cabbage), many kind of lettuce, spinach and cabbage. 

 

To stir fry (sauté) the veggie is easy. 

 

All you want to do is to heat the pot, pour some oil and drop in the chopped veggie, add a little bit salt(1/2 teaspoon or so) and after the veggie is softened, then it’s done. 

-       Now when you wash your veggie, be sure to wash it thoroughly. Like Bok Choi, you need to cut the head off. There usually hides some sand because the head is close to the ground before it’s harvested. 

-       Take out the rotten leaves. I am sure you don’t want it in the plate and eat it.

-       Most of the veggie, you can stir fry without anything else. But you can also add in some chopped garlic or even ginger for more flavor. I would do garlic when I cook lettuce or spinach. I add nothing for cabbage but the chef of the restaurant would add in garlic for it. It’s a free country. No one cares how you love your veggie. 

-       When you heat the pot, don’t do the trick the outside chef do:  overheat the oil, the pot smokes and when you drop the veggie, it’s a loud hurting sound from the veggie. Just heat it and open your palm over the pot, when you feel the heat, it’s time to drop the veggie. I SAID OVER THE POT, NOT PRESS ON THE POT. IT’S YOUR FAULT TO BURN YOUR PALM, OK?!

-       When you chop the veggie, try to separate them the stem part and the leaves. Why? Because you want to have the stem drop in the pot first to cook and after it’s almost tender, drop the leaves then. This way, you won’t overcook your leaves. 

-       When the veggie changes color, usually no more than 3 minutes, it’s done. Cabbage takes longer time to cook, though. Bok choi, too.

-       I am a sugar person. Many Chinese would add in MSG, but I add in sugar instead. Just about the quantity you add in for the salt. 

-       Most of the time, I will add a little bit water to lower the heat to cook the veggie longer. For veggie needs more time to cook, you can add more than 2 tablespoons of water and cover lid. Lettuce doesn’t need too much time to cook. Cabbage does. You don’t want the veggie too dry. So, don’t wait until the water is dried out completely. If it’s not tender to your taste, add a little bit water to extend the process. 

I don’t eat cabbage when I was young. I started when your grandma showed me it’s good and she ate so much of it. I still remember how she could cook cabbage without any seasoning. It was really tasty. 

 

-       I used to cut into the cabbage directly to carve the head out. Because it’s faster. But I don’t do that any more. I tear off the leaves one by one. And then I carve the hard stem off. This way, if you cook only ½ head of cabbage, the remaining cabbage will be fresh and last longer. 

-       In the States, the cabbage is smaller, rounder, greener and harder.The leaves are thinner. Chinese cabbage is flatter, bigger, paler, and crisper to the taste. Of course, Chinese cabbage is sweeter. So, if you can’t find Chinese cabbage in your supermarket, that’s too bad. Chop directly and carve the head out。If it’s Chinese cabbage，do it the latter way to take the leaves out one by one. After you take out the big stem (usually it tastes bitter), chop the cabbage roughly. For Chinese cabbage, I usually tear it by hand to the size I want. 

-       Slice some carrots. Cabbage can’t taste well without carrots. I usually use some carrot. Carrot will make it sweeter. What did I tell you? The carrot is round, so, after you peel it, slice it once and put the flat side down and slice from 90 degree of the flat side so you won’t cut yourself. I hurt myself once when the carrot rolled. That's why I am telling you the trick of playing with carrots. Be careful. 

-       Heat the pot → put in oil → wait a minute → extend your palm to test the temperature being good → drop the cabbage and carrots → add salt and sugar → add a little bit water → cover the lid and cook → test the cabbage to see if it’s right flavor and tender → Scoop it it. Remember cabbage will need to add more water to cook and the water will dry out a little bit as the cooking time extends. 

 

OK. That’s about the veggie I can tell you today. We’ll talk more tomorrow. Dad’s yelling to go out now. 

P.S.

Oh. I forgot to say that you can add meat or slice fish balls or mushroom or anything you think suitable to your veggie. For cabbage, you can add sliced bacon too. 

 

If you cook with meat, raw meat needs to be full cooked before you add in veggie. This is very important.