Easy Bok Choy Stir-Fry

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Easy Bok Choy Stir-Fry or  Pak Choi or pok choi would be your next favorite vegetable side dish. A medley of flavors, and is best served along with some rice or noodles.

What is Bok Choy or pak choi or Chinese Cabbage?

Bok Choy or pak choi or pok choi is a type of Chinese cabbage. There are different types of bok choy. Some are with thick white stems and dark green leaves known as White Bok Choy and the other one, has small light green stems with smooth green leaves referred to as Shanghai Bok Choy.

How to cook bok choy

Bok Choy cooks quickly. It takes 2-3 minutes to cook this and both the stalks and greens are edible. One can steam, stir-fry, or simmer in water. The leaves can be used in similar ways to cook as other greens like spinach and kale.

What part of bok choy do you eat

The stalks and the greens both are edible.

How do you clean bok choy

First, the stalks need to be separated. There is a lot of dirt in between the stalks. Trim the ends. Chop if required or leave as is. Rinse it with clean tap water multiple times.

How do you cut bok choy for stir fry?

First, clean the bok choy as mentioned in the earlier step. Then cut the stalks into half-inch pieces in rectangular or square shape as required. Similarly, roughly chop the greens into half to one-inch pieces.

What is the best way to eat pak choi? Or What pairs well with bok choy?

Pak choi can be enjoyed alongside main meals as a side to rice, quinoa, noodles, etc. They can be steamed and added to soups. The stalks and greens can be used in pancakes. The greens can be enjoyed in parathas and pancakes. Simply sauteed bok choy can be enjoyed as a salad too.

Asian Greens

We do get a lot of Chinese cabbage during the summer and autumn months here. I always wanted to try something from these Asian Greens. So when Seema from Mildly Indian announced the theme as Cook anything with Asian Greens, Bok Choy or Nappa Cabbage was in mind. Though I even sourced the red amaranth Leaves getting bok choy or nappa cabbage was getting difficult and when I found it, I got 3 different vegetables. 

So finally I decided to make this Easy Stir-Fry Bok Choy when Archana from The Mad Scientist’s Kitchen gave me cornstarch and soy sauce as the secret ingredient. I gave her red chili and garlic and she also made Bok Choy Stir-Fry. Do check out her version and some traditional Goan Recipes. 

Recipe Process of Easy Bok Choy Stir-Fry

I kept this stir-fry very simple with minimum sauces but still, it tasted very good and went perfectly with some white steamed rice. My son enjoyed it too and I was happy that he was enjoying a new vegetable. 

I simply made a base sauce with soya sauce, vinegar, red chili sauce, and some sugar. Another mixture was to create a cornstarch slurry for thickening.

A simply sauteed garlic, red chili, and onion are first done. To this, the bok choy is added and cooked just until a bit tender. Sauces are added to it and mixed. Cornstarch slurry is added and consistency is adjusted as per taste.

Bok Choy Soup

One can make a soup from this or a stir-fry. If you want soup, you would need to add hot water to the mixture and bring it to a boil. Add the cornstarch slurry in the last and adjust the consistency as required.

Easy Bok Choy Stir-Fry

Easy Bok Choy Stir-Fry or Pak Choi or pok choi is a medley of flavors, and is best served along with some rice or noodles.

5 from 5 votes

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Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Asian, Indo Chinese

Keyword: Side Dish

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes minutes

Servings: 4

Author: Renu Agrawal-Dongre

Equipment

• Heavy Bottom Wok
• Cooking Spoon
• Knife
• Chopping Board
• Bowls

Ingredients

• 1 big size Bok Choy bulb along with the greens
• 2 tablespoons olive oil or any vegetable oil
• 3-4 garlic cloves chopped
• 3-6 red chilies chopped Deseeded if required
• 1 scallion/green onion
• Salt to taste Go easy as sauce would have some salt

Soya Sauce mixture

• 4 tablespoons soya sauce More or less may be required
• 1 tablespoon Vinegar
• 2 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon red chili sauce

Cornstarch slurry

• 1 tablespoon cornstarch More or less may be required
• ¼ cup water

Instructions

Cleaning and chopping of Bok Choy and other ingredients

• Separate the stalks of bok choy.
  1 big size Bok Choy bulb along with the greens
• Trim the ends.
• Roughly chop the stalks and leaves into half-inch pieces.
• Rinse it multiple times until all the dirt is removed.
• Remove it in a colander to remove all the excess water.
• Chop or mince the garlic and keep it aside.
  3-4 garlic cloves chopped
• Chop the red chili into small pieces and keep it aside.
  3-6 red chilies chopped
• Clean and rinse the scallions.
  1 scallion/green onion
• Chop it finely and keep it aside.

Making of the Soya Sauce mixture

• Mix all the ingredients mentioned under the Soya Sauce mixture and make a sauce.
  4 tablespoons soya sauce, 1 tablespoon Vinegar, 2 teaspoon sugar, 1 teaspoon red chili sauce
  

Cornstarch slurry

• Mix the cornstarch and water and keep it aside.
  1 tablespoon cornstarch, ¼ cup water
  
• This would need to be mixed again when added to the final mix as cornstarch settles quickly.

Making of Easy Stir-Fry Bok Choy

• In a heavy bottom wok add oil.
  2 tablespoons olive oil
• Once warm add garlic and red chili.
  3-4 garlic cloves chopped, 3-6 red chilies chopped
  
• Saute it for 1-2 minutes until the raw smell of garlic goes.
• Add in the chopped scallions and cook on high until slightly translucent.
  1 scallion/green onion
  
• Add in the chopped and rinsed bok choy and cook for a minute.
  
• Add salt, and soya sauce mixture and mix everything.
  Salt to taste
• Cook on high for a minute.
• The greens would be done at this stage.
  
• Mix the cornstarch slurry once and add it.
  
• Mix everything and let it cook for a minute.
• The mixture will thicken.
• Adjust the consistency as desired. If you need thick, add more cornstarch mixture. (The mixture will be thick after some time, so keep that in mind.)
• If you need it like soup add hot boiling water. Add cornstarch slurry at the end if you are making soup.

Notes

• Adjust the sauce, and red chili quantities as per taste.
• PS – For Gluten-Free do check all the source are 100% gluten-free. For eg. Do buy 100 percent organic and certified gluten-free soya sauce, Vinegar, cornflour, and red chili used in the recipe .
• If you cannot source gluten-free soya sauce, use Tamari sauce.

 

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