How to Prepare Bok Choy

Preparing Bok Choy Salad

Buy bright, firm bok choy for eating raw. Bok choy is perfectly fine and tender for eating raw, especially with the right pairings in a salad. If you're going to eat raw bok choy, buy them small and brightly colored. Young bok choy is tender and delicious. Most bok choy is fairly limp, compared to heftier lettuces and other greens, so that's not necessarily a sign of quality. Avoid any especially soft ones, with brownness or other discoloration.

Trim the bottom stem off. Each boy choy will be like a little head of lettuce. To start preparing raw for a salad, trim off the very bottom stem end. This should loosen all the individual leaves and let you examine, clean, and prepare them individually. Don't discard the tender inside leaves. Those are the best-tasting part of the bok choy. The outside and the greenest parts tend to be somewhat bitter, so make sure to save the inside most of all.

Rinse the leaves. Sometimes, a little dirt and other sediments can get stuck inside the boy choy, so it's a good idea to rinse them all individually. Place them in a colander and rinse them all together, or run each under the water if you want. You can also use a salad spinner to dry them.

Chop the leaves to the desired thickness. Depending on the kind of salad you want to make, you can chop the leaves roughly, leave them whole, or chop them very finely, depending on your taste. Generally, the salad leaves are a bit better if you chop them somewhat finely, helping the dressing mask the bitterness of the greens. Use about 2-3 heads of medium bok choy for a good salad.

Mix with other greens. Bok choy is generally not eaten as a salad by itself, but pairs excellently with other leafy green vegetables. Use a basic mixed-green package or salad mix that you enjoy to add some bok choy to, or pair with any of the following greens: Bibb lettuce Butter lettuce Kale Swiss chard Baby spinach Mint leaves, cilantro, or other fresh herbs

Top with a vinaigrette. Bok choy salad goes well tossed with any sort of oil-based dressing that you like. If you want to mix one up yourself, try whisking together the following ingredients until smooth: Lime juice Soy sauce Asian fish sauce Brown mustard Minced garlic or shallot Black pepper

Pair with grilled steak. This salad goes excellently topped with some slices of grilled steak. Grill the steak, then slice it thinly and top the salad, letting the steak wilt the greens gently. Great combination. If you don't eat meat, fried tofu can be used in the same way.

Stir-Frying Bok Choy

Trim and rinse the bok choy. To stir fry bok choy, trim off the hard stem ends and separate the individual leaves and rinse them. Dry them thoroughly while you prepare the skillet for stir-frying.

Grate or mince garlic and ginger. If you want to add bok choy as part of a stir-fry, you can add it to any basic mix of vegetables and meat. But if you want to feature it as a dish by itself, the best additions are a little garlic and ginger, which help to highlight and lift the flavors of the bok choy. Use about a half-inch piece of ginger and grate it finely. You can also chop it, but grating it helps to break up the fibers and make it more palatable. Slice two cloves of garlic thinly or mince it more finely if you don't want big pieces.

Heat some cooking oil in a skillet or wok. Put your skillet on the heat, on medium-high. Garlic and ginger and burn very quickly, so add it to the skillet right at the beginning and let it heat up gently. When you can smell them, and see the garlic and ginger browning gently, add the bok choy.

Stir the bok choy in and toss in the oil for 15 seconds. Bok choy will cook very quickly and can become overcooked. Wilt it, get it covered in the fragrant oil, and then add some cooking liquid to get it cooked more thoroughly. At high temperature, the bok choy leaves should wilt pretty quickly, and might brown and curl at the green edges. That's a good sign. Make sure the garlic and ginger don't burn, or this dish will taste quite bitter.

Add a cup of cooking liquid, cover, and cook for one minute. White wine and chicken broth or stock make for excellent cooking liquids for bok choy, adding richness and flavor. Cover the lid immediately and allow the mixture to cook for about a minute. Add a cup of cooking liquid per pound or so of bok choy leaves you've added.

Top with sesame oil and salt to taste. Check the leaves for tenderness after about a minute. Cook off extra liquid, if some remains in the skillet. Then serve in a bowl and top with salt, to taste, and a little drizzle of sesame oil. Serve with steamed rice. You could also add other flavors, to taste: Red pepper flakes Sesame seeds Chopped peanut Sriracha hot sauce Soy sauce Hoisin sauce