Garlicky Stir-Fried Baby Bok Choy
With satisfyingly crisp, tender little stalks and dark leafy tops that wilt just-so when cooked, baby bok choy is where it is at! In this ready-in-a-flash baby bok choy recipe, the tiny cruciferous bulbs are sautéed until just-done in nutty sesame oil, and finished with fresh garlic, a dash of soy sauce and red pepper flakes.
What Part of Baby Bok Choy Do You Eat?
OK, this is the maybe the reason that baby bok choy is one of our favorite vegetable to cook and eat—the part of the baby bok choy that you eat is THE WHOLE THING! Vegetables that don’t require peeling or trimming or end-removal of some sort are few and far between, which makes vegetables like baby bok choy so very lovable—rarely is a vegetable quite this easy to prep and cook.
How To Stir-Fry Baby Bok Choy
With a small, tender vegetable like baby bok choy, sort of a steam / stir-fry hybrid is the best way to cook it. Stir-frying the bok choy ensures that we wind up with perfectly wilted top leaves and stalks that still have a bit of crunch. Here’s how this baby bok choy recipe works:
- Heat a good pour of sesame oil in a wok or skillet over medium-high heat.
- When the oil is hot, lay your baby bok choy in the pan, cut-side down. Work in batches, so your pan stays nice and hot, and cook each batch for a minute or so just to brown the bok choy.
- Once it’s all been browned, add all of the baby bok choy back to the pan along with minced garlic and stir-fry for two minutes.
- Add soy sauce, salt, red pepper flakes and water to make a sauce and bring the whole, lovely, fragrant pan to a nice simmer.
- When the dark green leaves are wilted and light green stalks are tender, but still have some crunch, your baby bok choy is done! This only takes a minute or two.
- Top with sesame seeds and more red pepper flakes, and serve!
How To Clean Baby Bok Choy
Ease of cleaning is reason enough alone to chop your baby bok choy in half before cooking. This sweet, tender vegetable is unfortunately rather prone to accumulating grit and dirt in between those stubby, bulbous stalks. But no matter! Just slice your baby bok choy in half, length-wise, and give them a good rinse under a strong stream of cold water. Sometimes, I’ll peek between the stalks, just to be sure I’ve gotten rid of the grit. Once you see clean green, you’re good to go.
Tools You’ll Need:
- A wok or skillet.
- A sharp knife.
- A wooden spoon.
Other Asian-Inspired Dinner Ideas:
You can serve this Asian-inspired Stir-Fried Baby Bok Choy alongside almost any dinner—it goes just as well with a simple grilled steak as it does a more traditional Asian dish. Here are a few things we love to serve it with:
- Our Easy Harissa Chicken is made with homemade harissa and is a dreamy weeknight supper.
- A super savory Korean-style sauce makes these Baked Chicken Wings over-the-top delicious.
- Hoisin-Glazed Pork Chops would be the perfect partner for our Baby Bok Choy—both are fast, easy, healthy dishes and together they make for one perfect meal.
Baby Bok Choy: Everyone’s Favorite Miniature Vegetable.
At least, it is now! Right? We hope you love this quick and easy stir-fried baby bok choy recipe, and we want to see how your version of it turns out! Snap a photo of your bok choy, and maybe even a video of the beautiful people you feed it to. Tag us on Instagram using @themodernproper and #themodernproper. Happy eating!
