Su Su Xào Tỏi
Su Su Xào Tỏi·(soo soo saow toy)
Bữa Cơm Gia Đình: The Weeknight Table
If you grew up in a Vietnamese household, the aggressive, sizzling scent of Su Su Xào Tỏi is the smell of a Tuesday night. It is a dish born of frugality and intuition, demanding less than fifteen minutes from cutting board to table. Chayote is a humble, pale green squash that tastes like a beautiful cross between a crisp apple and a jicama. On its own, it’s mild. But thrown into a scorching hot wok with an almost offensive amount of garlic, it transforms into a deeply savory, wildly addictive anchor for the weeknight family table.
Before you start
Neutralize the sticky sap.
Raw chayote bleeds a latex-like sap when cut that feels like superglue on your hands. To fix this, slice about an inch off the top stem. Press the cut piece against the exposed flesh of the squash, and rub them together in a rapid, circular motion for 30 seconds. A white foam will appear, drawing the sap out. Rinse it off under cold water, and your squash is completely sap-free and ready to peel.
Ingredients
- chayote squash2 med
- garlic5 large cloves
- neutral cooking oil2 tbsp
- chicken bouillon powder1 tsp
- oyster sauce1 tbsp
- fish sauce1 tsp
- sugar1/4 tsp
- black pepper1/4 tsp
- scallions2 med
Method
- 01
Mix the savory seasoning.
In a small bowl, stir together the chicken bouillon powder, oyster sauce, fish sauce, and sugar.
- 02
Infuse the cooking oil.
Place a wok or large, heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat and add the oil. When it shimmers, drop in exactly half of the minced garlic. Stir continuously for about 15 seconds, just until it turns lightly golden and perfumes the kitchen.
- 03
Stir-fry fast and hard.
Crank the heat to high and immediately dump in the sliced chayote. Toss rapidly to coat the squash in the garlic oil, then pour your seasoning mixture over the top. Keep things moving for 3 to 4 minutes. The goal is for the squash to turn slightly translucent while retaining a snappy, crisp bite. Do not let it get mushy.
- 04
Deliver the final garlic hit.
Pull the pan off the stove entirely. Toss in the remaining raw minced garlic and the scallions. Stir vigorously for 30 seconds; the residual heat takes the raw edge off the garlic while leaving its potent aroma completely intact. Dust generously with black pepper and serve steaming hot.
Notes
The diaspora gold standard for umami.
Modern Vietnamese home cooking relies heavily on hạt nêm, a granulated chicken bouillon powder that provides an immediate, rounded umami backbone to quick vegetable stir-fries. Knorr brand is the undisputed staple of the Vietnamese-American pantry.
The double-garlic method.
If you add all your garlic to a high-heat wok at the start, it will absolutely burn and turn bitter. Frying half to perfume the oil, and tossing the rest in off the heat at the very end, is the definitive native secret to an intensely aromatic stir-fry.