Sautéed Bok Choy

Ingredients for Sautéed Bok Choy

• 3 baby bok choy
• 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
• crushed red pepper flakes
• salt and pepper
• sesame seeds

How to Cook Baby Bok Choy

Blanch the Bok Choy

Add ice and cold water to a mixing bowl to make an ice water bowl. Set aside.

Bring salted water to a rolling boil and add bok choy, cooking for 1 minute. Immediately remove from boiling water and place into the ice bath to cool.

Drain and pat dry with paper towels. Get as much excess water off as possible so the bok choy can brown once it goes into the skillet instead of steaming.

Brown the Bok Choy and Garlic

Add oil and garlic to a skillet and heat over medium-high heat, cooking for about 1 minute.

Add bok choy and brown on each side for about 2-3 minutes per side.

Give the bok choy enough room to make contact with the skillet. If your baby bok choy is on the larger side, it can also be cut lengthwise before cooking so the flat side browns against the pan more easily.

Add the Sauce

Add soy sauce and oyster sauce and toss to coat well.

Season with salt, pepper, crushed red pepper and toss to coat. Taste before adding much additional salt since both soy sauce and oyster sauce are already salty.

Serve immediately with sesame seeds as a garnish.

Why Blanch Bok Choy Before Sautéing?

Baby bok choy has two very different textures in the same vegetable. The leafy green tops cook quickly, while the white stalks are much thicker.

Blanching the bok choy for just 1 minute gives those thicker stalks a head start. Moving it directly into ice water stops that initial cooking, so it can finish in the skillet without the leaves becoming overly soft.

Then the hot skillet does what I actually want it to do here: brown the bok choy and add the garlic and sauce. For whole or larger pieces of baby bok choy, I like this better than trying to cook everything from raw in the skillet and waiting for the thickest part to become tender.

What to Serve with Bok Choy

This has enough flavor to stand on its own as a vegetable side, but the garlic, soy sauce, and oyster sauce also make it an easy addition to a larger meal.

I would serve it with my Jasmine Fried Rice, especially if you want to keep dinner simple. My Garlic Sesame Noodles are another quick option with similar flavors, or add Salt and Pepper Chicken if you want a protein alongside it.

Storing Leftover Bok Choy

Store leftover sautéed bok choy in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Reheat it in a skillet or microwave until hot. I don’t recommend freezing this one because the bok choy will be considerably softer after thawing.