Rau Muong Xao Toi (Garlic Water Spinach)
Greens stir-fried hard with garlic and fish sauce.
Ingredients
- 400 g Bok choy
- 4 cloves Garlic
- 1 tbsp Fish sauce
- 2 tbsp Neutral oil
- ½ tsp Sugar
Method
- Cut the greens into lengths and mince the garlic.
- Stir-fry the garlic in hot oil until fragrant, then add the greens and toss over high heat until just wilted and still bright.
- Season with the fish sauce and sugar off the heat and toss to combine.
- Serve at once.
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About Rau Muong Xao Toi (Garlic Water Spinach)
Rau muong xao toi is the everyday Vietnamese stir-fry of water spinach hit hard with garlic and fish sauce, a plate of greens that appears on family tables across Vietnam alongside rice and something richer. Water spinach (rau muong) has hollow stems that stay crisp and leaves that wilt to silk, and stir-frying it fast over fierce heat is the whole point of the dish. The flavor is straightforward and punchy: sweet fried garlic, the salty-funky depth of fish sauce, and a pinch of sugar to round it, all clinging to greens that keep their bite and their bright green color. It is humble, quick and enormously satisfying, the kind of side that makes a bowl of plain rice feel like a full meal.
What makes this version work is heat and speed rather than any long list of ingredients. The garlic is bloomed in hot oil until fragrant before the greens go in, and then everything is tossed over high heat for barely a minute so the leaves wilt while the stems stay snappy and vivid. Seasoning the fish sauce and sugar off the heat keeps the sauce from scorching and lets it coat the greens cleanly. Done in around twelve minutes start to finish, it is the ideal weeknight vegetable to round out a Vietnamese meal of rice, grilled meat or a simmered claypot dish, and it works just as well with bok choy or any sturdy leafy green when water spinach is hard to find.
Rau Muong Xao Toi (Garlic Water Spinach): frequently asked questions
How many calories are in Rau Muong Xao Toi (Garlic Water Spinach)?
A serving has about 89 calories — 1.4g protein, 5.1g carbs, 7.1g fat, 1.3g fiber. Figures are estimated from the ingredient amounts and will shift with your portions and brands.
Is Rau Muong Xao Toi (Garlic Water Spinach) gluten-free?
Based on its ingredients, Rau Muong Xao Toi (Garlic Water Spinach) has no gluten-containing components, so it's naturally gluten-free — as always, check that any packaged ingredients you use are certified gluten-free to be safe.
How many servings does Rau Muong Xao Toi (Garlic Water Spinach) make?
This recipe makes 4 servings. In the app you can scale it up or down and the ingredient amounts adjust automatically.