Bok Choy Stir Fry

I call bok choy the What now? vegetable.

You buy one because it's supposed to be healthy, and it's usually really cheap.  So you bring this monstrosity home, and you think, What now?

We just don't know how to deal with something this big.  Lettuce?  Sure.  But full-grown bok choy is like, the size of a small dog.

I would love to cook with baby bok choy (OMG the ones i ate in Hong Kong were heavenly) but they don't have them at the dumb grocery store i have to shop at.  I will eventually get my bum over to the Chinese market that has fresh Chinese produce on Fridays.  One of these days when i am not working on a prelim, a proposal, a manuscript for an article, or grading.

Yes.

Anyways.  I am here to demystify the big bok choy for you.  So first, you have to wash the darn thing.  Cuz look.

Layered vegetables are usually filled with dirt.  The best way to tackle it is to take off all the leaves, one by one.  Wash each leaf carefully.

Now what?  Now you want to cut the big boy down to size!  You can take him!  Run a knife along the middle of the stalk.

Then chop into pieces.

Not so tough now, are you buddy?  Once you've done that for all your leaves, dump them into a big bowl again.

Because I am my mother's daughter, i have to rewash everything again.

Fill a bowl with cold water, shake around the pieces in the water, then allow the sediment to sink to the bottom.  Fish out fistfuls of bok choy pieces and put them in a strainer.

You are now ready to cook with bok choy!!


Here's the stir fry recipe.

Ingredients (3 servings):

-1 bok choy, chopped
-1/2 onion, sliced into half rings
-1 cup mushrooms, sliced
-1/2 cup celery, chopped
-1 tbsp mustard seed
-1 tsp hot pepper flakes
-1 tbsp oyster sauce
-1/4 cup chicken broth
-1 tsp garlic, chopped

1.  Chop the garlic first.

2.  Slice onions into rings.

3.  Chop celery and mushrooms.
 
4.  Heat a large skillet (one that has a lid, preferably) with a little bit of oil.  Add onions.

5.  Add mushrooms.

And celery!

6.  Once the onions, mushrooms and celery are somewhat cooked, throw in the bok choy.

 

7.  Pour in some of that chicken stock.

The delicious oyster sauce can go in now too.

 

Reduce heat to medium, and close the lid to allow the steam to cook the veggies through.  It'll help wilt the bok choy down quite a bit.

8.  After about 5 minutes, uncover the skillet and add the mustard seeds.

And the red pepper.

9.  Cook for a couple more minutes or until the largest piece of bok choy stalk is tender.

Served over a bed of hot jasmine rice...check this out!

This is so delicious (i ate it for lunch Monday through Wednesday this week) and so healthy!  It keeps you full because the bok choy is packed with fiber, and the tons of vitamins and minerals that are in there will help your immune system fight all those diseases everyone is so scared of.

And let's be honest.  Very few of us get all the dark green leafy vegetables that we're supposed to.  If you're tired of eating spinach to fulfill that requirement, why not try something new, like bok choy?  That big head of bok choy only cost me like $1.60 or something.  It's frugal, and it's so good for you, and it tastes fantastic.  Try some this weekend!

Have a great Friday, everybody! :)

For a printable version of this recipe, please click here.