Our Island farmers have mastered growing Japanese turnips (also called Hakurei turnips) in a greenhouse or hoop house during the shoulder seasons, so we are lucky to have this tasty vegetable – freshly harvested – when many others aren’t available to us. I often include the greens in a stir-fry or soup if I can, but I’ve left them out of this one for the sake of simplicity.
I find that cutting the little white globe-shaped turnips into quarters is best for stir-fries, but if you have some larger turnips in the bunch, cut them into sixths.
Two flavor boosts here: frying garlic chips before adding the other veg and adding a quick little deglazing sauce of soy and maple at the end. This dish is alpha-gal friendly.
Serves 3 as a side dish
- 1 ½ teaspoons soy sauce
- 1 ½ teaspoons maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons neutral oil, such as grapeseed oil
- 1 large garlic clove, peeled and sliced thinly, lengthwise
- 2 cups quartered cremini mushrooms (about 6 ounces)
- 1 ¾ cups quartered Japanese turnips (greens removed, about 6 to 7 ounces)
- Kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon thinly sliced chives
1. Have ready a warm serving bowl. Put the soy sauce, the maple syrup, and 2 teaspoons water in a small bowl; whisk to combine and set near the stove.
2. In a large stir-fry pan or wok, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the garlic slices and let sizzle in the oil, stirring a few times, until they are golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes.
3. Add the mushrooms and the turnips to the pan, season with 1 teaspoon salt and cook, stirring frequently, until all the vegetables have some browning on them (the mushrooms will be somewhat shrunken and the turnips will be tender-firm to the bite), about 8 minutes more. The pan might seem dry at first when the mushrooms soak up a lot of the oil, but don’t worry, the mushrooms will soon begin shedding moisture, which helps steam the turnips while they are browning. Adjust the heat up a bit if your stove’s “medium” isn’t super hot.
4. Remove the pan from the heat and add the maple-balsamic mixture, stirring vigorously and scraping the bottom of the pan. Immediately turn the vegetables into a warm serving bowl and garnish with the chives.
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