A Collection of Bok Choy Recipes that are not Soups 小白菜食谱

A collection of bok choy recipes that feature different cooking techniques and accompanying ingredients. From stir-fry, steam, blanch, to rice.

Stir-fried baby bok choy with chicken

Besides throwing bok choy into soups at the last stage of cooking, there are other ways to enjoy this Chinese vegetable.

One fast and easy way to cook it is to quick fry it lightly seasoned with soy sauce or oyster sauce. Add chicken, pork, beef, mushrooms, and more to this basic set.

Here are a few bok choy recipes for your consideration.

Garlic Bok Choy

Garlic is indispensable when stir-frying bok choy.

The cooking video below showing CookingBomb stir-frying bok choy with garlic and ginger is quite fun to watch. She uses a dry wok to pre-cook the bok choy before stir-frying. This reduces the chance of overcooking the bok choy causing it to lose its crunch. It is unconventional but it works. Blanching is another way to pre-cook bok choy.

Ingredients

• 500g bok choy, washed and separated
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 5 slices of ginger
• Cooking oil
• 1 tbsp cooking wine
• 1 tbsp oyster sauce or salt

Directions

1. Heat up a wok or large frying pan
2. Add the bok choy to the dry wok and stir them to distribute and pre-cook them evenly
3. When the bok choy soften, remove
4. In the same wok, heat up 2 tbsp of cooking oil, add the ginger and garlic
5. Lower the heat slightly and fry the ginger and garlic until fragrant
6. Add the bok choy back into the wok
7. Add around 1 tbsp cooking wine and 1 tbsp oyster sauce
8. Stir fry till bok choy is cooked but still green
9. You can use salt if you do not have oyster sauce.

Chicken Bok Choy

Bok choy and chicken goes quite well together in a stir-fry. Chicken breast, chicken thighs are good parts to use.

Image source: Kim at https://www.flickr.com/photos/thegirlsny/5052146543

Ingredients

• 3 pieces of chicken breast
• 5 stalks of bok choy
• 2 cloves garlic
• Oyster sauce
• Pepper and sesame seed oil
• Corn starch
• 1/4 cup soup stock
• Cooking oil

Directions

1. Clean and slice the chicken breast into short strips
2. Marinate it with 1 tbsp oyster sauce, 1 tbsp water and 1 tbsp corn starch
3. Separate the stems of the bok choy and wash thoroughly
4. Chop the garlic roughly
5. Heat up 2 tbsp of cooking oil in a rounded pan, fry the garlic quickly.
6. Add the chicken pieces and stir-fry for about 10 minutes and then add the bok choy
7. Stir to mix the chicken and bok choy
8. Add the soup stock and bring to a boil
9. Add 1 tbsp oyster sauce and mix it well. Add a little corn starch mixture (optional)
10. Lower the heat, cover, and cook till the bok choy is done
11. Add a dash of pepper and sesame seed oil before serving

Mushroom Bok Choy

Fresh shiitake or Chinese mushrooms makes a great stir-fry companion too. Follow the recipe above but substitute the chicken with mushrooms. Alternatively, you can try your hand at the dish below.

Chinese mushrooms with bok choy 香菇小棠菜 (xiang gu xiao tang cai) is a Chinese New Year dish. The bok choy is pre-cooked by blanching. They are then placed on a serving plate with the stems facing out to resemble a flower before the simmered mushrooms are placed in the centre. It looks good and tastes good.

Good for a family of 4 to 5.

Ingredients

• 15 stalks of baby bok choy
• 12 fresh shiitake mushrooms
• 5 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1/2 cup chicken stock / vegetable stock
• Soy sauce, sesame seed oil
• Cooking oil

Directions

1. Soak and wash the baby bok choy thoroughly. Make sure to remove any dirt or soil from in between stems. If you cannot find baby bok choy, then half the normal bok choy.
2. Remove the stems of the mushrooms and cut them into thick slices
3. Bring a wok of water to a boil and add half a tbsp cooking oil
4. Add the bok choy as shown in the video to blanch them for about 2 minutes
5. Remove the bok choy
6. Bring the same water to a boil and add the mushrooms to blanch for 3 minutes
7. Remove the mushrooms
8. Clean the wok and heat up 1 tbsp cooking oil
9. Fry the chopped garlic for about 30 seconds. Add 1 tbsp of oyster sauce, 1 tbsp soy sauce, stir to mix
10. Add the mushrooms, stir-fry for a while and then add sufficient water to simmer the mushrooms
11. Remove and place in a small round bowl
12. Clean the wok, heat up 1 tbsp cooking oil, and add a tsp salt
13. Throw in the bok choy.
14. Gently stir fry the vegetables, salt, and oil. You can add a little corn starch slurry to give the bok choy a slight sheen
15. Remove the bok choy like a flower on a serving plate
16. Place the cooked mushrooms in the middle

Bok Choy Rice

Bok choy rice is a traditional Shanghai dish. I suspect it is created to use up leftover white rice.

The method is quite easy. Chop up some bok choy, stir fry them with some Chinese ham or Chinese sausage. Add to leftover rice and mix thoroughly. Done!

Chinese ham can be substituted with bacon, pancetta, chorizo, serrano, or any preserved fatty meat.

See how it is done by a Shanghainese lady in the cooking video below.

Steamed Bok Choy

If stir-frying is not your thing, you can try blanching or steaming them.

After steaming or blanching, toss or drizzle with a mixture of oyster sauce, soy sauce, and sesame seed oil. Top with crispy fried shallots or onions and serve. Or you may like to consider this bok choy recipe: Steamed Bok Choy and Glass Noodles 蒸青菜粉丝 (zheng qing cai fen si)

Ingredients

• 3 stalks of bok choy, sliced thinly
• 1 bundle of glass noodles or mung bean vermicelli, soaked about 10 minutes
• 1/2 small carrot, finely diced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 green onion, chopped
• 1 tbsp oyster sauce + 1 tbsp water for the dressing + sesame seed oil (optional)

Directions

1. Clean the sliced bok choy thoroughly
2. Arrange them like a flower with the leaves facing inwards on a steaming plate
3. Place the glass noodles on top of the bok choy in the middle. Like the centre of a flower
4. Place the chopped carrot, garlic on top of the glass noodles
5. Bring a steamer of water to a boil, place the steaming plate in and steam for about 5 to 7 minutes
6. Garnish with chopped green onion and drizzle with the diluted oyster sauce

Last but not least, I wanted to introduce this showstopper recipe: Bok Choy with Stuffed Mushrooms. I am sure this is an upgraded version of the Chinese New Year dish mentioned above.

Why is it a show-stopper? Not only is blanched bok choy decorated as flower petals, the mushrooms are stuffed with a ground pork paste and steamed. The steamed stuffed mushrooms are then placed in the middle of the plate. The whole dish is topped off with a slightly thickened savoury sauce. It looks amazing.

Ingredient Notebook

Oyster sauce is mentioned frequently in this article. It is a ubiquitous condiment in Chinese cuisine. It is made with oysters and usually comes in glass bottles. It is a multi-purpose condiment used to season or marinate as well as a sauce base.

There are vegetarian versions made from mushrooms, premium versions with dried scallops, as well as gluten-free ones. You can find them on Amazon and Shopee.

1. Lee Kum Kee Vegetarian Oyster Flavoured Sauce 510g (Shopee)
2. Lee Kum Kee Oyster Sauce Dried Scallop 510g (Shopee)
3. Lee Kum Kee Premium Oyster Sauce, 18-Ounce Glass Bottles (Pack of 2) (Amazon)

Glass noodles is also a common Chinese dried ingredient. It is made from mung bean powder. When cooked, it has a nice springy texture. I like to use it in soups and salads. The brand I use is available on Amazon:

Pure Mung Bean Vermicelli - 17.6 Oz

I hope you find this article on bok choy recipes useful.

Happy Souping, Phoebe