Last night I made the San Choi Bao recipe from J. Kenji Lopez-Alt’s The Wok cookbook. This was a welcome change for my wife from the stir-fried greens section.

A couple of new-to-this cookbook ingredients in this dish, pine nuts and celery, but neither are unusual ingredients to US cooks. Pine nuts are a rare ingredient for me though. Because they’re so expensive, I haven’t purchased them in years, but I bought some for this recipe. $24.99/lb. Yeesh.

The technique was straightforward. You cut all of the ingredients into 1/4-inch dice and then stir-fry in batches. Add the sauce at the end.

My wife and I thought it was good, but not amazing. My son gave it an honest effort commenting, “I’m disappointed I don’t like it.” The variety of textures was present, but the flavor felt one-note. Perhaps a touch more salt would have brought it out more; I may try that with the leftovers.

I might make this again, but I don’t think anyone will request it.

I am cooking my way through J. Kenji Lopez-Alt’s The Wok cookbook. Read more about it.