Stir Fried Morning Glory

We ate a lot of morning glory while we were abroad. We had it in every city in Thailand and then again when we were in Vietnam. I fell in love with this vegetable and when I looked it up online, I found out it's actually a pretty invasive species and that the farmers in the U.S. that grow it must be licensed and have to keep their crops under control.

Morning glory is also known as water spinach, river spinach, or the more revolting of its names, swamp spinach. The stems are light and hollow and crunchy while its leaves are really tender and delicate and I think it's that lovely textural contrast that makes this vegetable so alluring to me. The stalks give it such good texture and the leaves tend to hug any sauce or seasoning you add to them.

Every time we were served morning glory, it was prepared in a similar way; simply stir fried with garlic and a salty seasoning, whether it was actual salt, oyster sauce, fish sauce, or soy sauce depended on the chef. Sometimes there was a bit of spice, which I really appreciated, and I did my best to recreate my favorite version for today's recipe post.

Ingredients:
1 bunch morning glory (1 lb.)
1 teaspoon canola oil
4 cloves garlic, sliced
1 teaspoon crushed pepper flake
1 tablespoon oyster sauce

Start by rinsing the greens and then chop them into 2" to 3" pieces and slice the garlic.

Heat a pan over medium and add in the oil and chili flake and let them sizzle and bloom in the oil for a few minutes.

Add in the morning glory and give them a toss just until the greens start to wilt and then add the oyster sauce. Stir through and serve immediately. I say "serve immediately" because the stems will quickly lose their crisp texture if they're left too long.

This is a really vibrant, verdant side dish and even though it's cooked, it has the same bright crunch that a salad might. I could eat this every day.

Here's the recipe page: