Chinese celery stir-fry

Name: Chinese celery stir-fry
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 8 min
Total time: 18 min
Yield: 2
Cuisine: China
Ingredients: 300 g Chinese celery (or regular celery if unavailable), cut into 4cm pieces on the diagonal; 200 g five-spice dried tofu (dòugān), cut into thin batons; 2 tbsp neutral oil; 3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced; 3 slices fresh ginger; 2 dried red chillies, halved (optional); 1.5 tbsp light soy sauce; 1 tsp sesame oil; 0.5 tsp sugar

Chinese celery and five-spice dried tofu stir-fry: a fast, fragrant everyday dish

Origin: China

From the journey of Celery.

Chinese celery (芹菜, qīncài) is a distinct variety from Western celery, its stalks are thin, hollow, and deeply flavoured, with an intensity that regular celery cannot match. It has been cultivated in China since at least the Tang dynasty (618–907 CE) and appears in Chinese culinary texts from the Song period onward. Unlike Western celery, which is used primarily as an aromatic base for long-cooked dishes, Chinese celery is a main vegetable in its own right, stir-fried, braised briefly, used in dumpling fillings, and eaten raw in salads. The classic pairing is qīncài with dòugān (five-spice pressed dried tofu) a combination found in domestic kitchens across northern and central China that exemplifies the Chinese culinary principle of contrasting textures: the clean crunch of the celery against the dense, chewy, spiced tofu. This is fast food in the original sense: a dish assembled and cooked in under ten minutes, deeply flavoured, and eaten with steamed rice as part of the everyday Chinese home meal.

Ingredients

Celery

300 g Chinese celery (or regular celery if unavailable), cut into 4cm pieces on the diagonal

Tofu

200 g five-spice dried tofu (dòugān), cut into thin batons

Fat

2 tbsp neutral oil

Aromatics

3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
3 slices fresh ginger

Spice

2 dried red chillies, halved (optional)

Sauce

1.5 tbsp light soy sauce
0.5 tsp sugar

Finish

1 tsp sesame oil

Method

Prepare all ingredients before you begin: this dish cooks in under 8 minutes and there is no time to stop once the wok is hot.
Heat the oil in a wok over the highest heat until just smoking. Add the garlic, ginger, and dried chillies (if using). Stir-fry for 20 seconds until fragrant.
Add the dried tofu batons. Stir-fry for 2 minutes until heated through and lightly coloured on the edges.
Add the celery. Stir-fry for 2–3 minutes: the celery should remain crisp. Do not overcook; soggy celery is the enemy.
Add the soy sauce and sugar. Toss everything together for 30 seconds over high heat.
Remove from heat. Drizzle with sesame oil and serve immediately with steamed rice.

Notes

Five-spice dried tofu (dòugān, 豆干) is available from Chinese supermarkets: it is firm, dense, and already flavoured with five spice and soy. Plain firm tofu, pressed and pan-fried to develop colour before stir-frying, is an acceptable substitute but will be milder. If Chinese celery is unavailable, regular celery works but will be less intensely flavoured; consider adding a little extra soy sauce and using the inner pale stalks and leaves for a closer approximation.

The Gastrographer

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Ingredient originTrade or transit route

Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control