Video How to make stir fry bok choy stay green

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Crisp, fresh, and loaded with flavor, this Bok Choy Recipe is guaranteed to be your new favorite side dish! Glistening with an addictive garlic and ginger coating, it’s Ready in just 10 minutes!

Reading: how to make stir fry bok choy stay green

Bok Choy Recipe - Trim stem off

Table of Contents

Why This Bok Choy Recipe Is So Good

Perfectly stir fried bok choy
An amazing garlic flavor (no burning bitter garlic)
An easy vegetarian side dish
Goes well with fish, beef or pork

Ingredients

Bok choy
Cooking oil
Garlic
Ginger
Water or broth
Soy sauce or salt
Sesame oil

How To Make This Bok Choy Recipe – Step By Step

Start by trimming the bok choy stem off – don’t trim too much – just the end. Cutting the thick stem off will ensure that the bok choy cooks evenly. Separate out the bok choy leaves and rinse under running water.

Trimmed stem off

Tender baby bok choy

But leave the tender baby that’s in the middle of each bok choy! That’s the golden nugget!

Bok Choy Recipe - grate ginger

Finely mince garlic and grate fresh ginger with a microplane grater. Grating the ginger helps break up the tough fibers! (and yeah, sometimes when the ginger is nice and fresh, I don’t even bother peeling off the paper-thin skin)

Add garlic and ginger to cold oil and wok

Place wok or frying pan on your stove and pour in the cooking oil. Add the garlic and ginger. Turn the heat to medium-high. Let the ginger and garlic gently sizzle in the oil. When the aromatics become fragrant and light golden brown, add the bok choy leaves. Toss to coat each leaf with the garlicky, gingery oil.

Bok Choy Recipe - Add leaves into wok

Tossing greens

I really mean it! Toss, baby, toss! Stir! Faster! You only have like 15 seconds of tossing time! I am super wok-stirring queen!

Bok Choy Recipe - Toss

Bok Choy Recipe - Pour in broth, water or wine

Pour in liquid (you can use broth, water or a combination of broth/water + Chinese cooking wine) Immediately cover and let cook for 1 minute. The liquid will now steam the bok choy. After steaming, season with soy sauce or salt and drizzle a bit of sesame oil on top to finish.

Bok Choy Recipe - Let cook for 1 minute

Bok Choy

Can I use other vegetables?

Yes! It works for any type of vegetable, like Napa cabbage or broccoli. For thicker vegetables (like broccoli), increase the steaming time by another minute and maybe add a bit more liquid.

Why do I use tongs to cook bok choy?

Why tongs instead of a standard wok chan (spatula)? Because it’s easier to use the tongs to toss, flip and turn when dealing with delicate vegetables.

In this Bok Choy recipe, you’ll learn how a stir-frying trick to cook bok choy perfectly, with amazing garlic flavor (without burning the garlic in the wok). We’ll show you step by step.

The Secret To This Stir Fry

The problem with using a very hot wok or frying pan to stir fry with minced garlic and ginger is that you’ll probably burn it. Burnt garlic and ginger is bitter and astringent. Bitter can be good sometimes – I LOVE bitter. But when you’re going for a more delicate flavor, especially in a bok choy dish, you might not want bitter.

When I’m stir-frying vegetables, like in this bok choy recipe, I add the minced garlic and ginger to COLD oil and COLD wok or pan. As the wok and oil heat up, the ginger and garlic gently sizzles. The longer the aromatics stay in contact with the oil (without burning) – the more flavor gets infused into the oil. So, now you’ve got a tablespoon of that an incredible garlicky, gingery oil. Toss the bok choy leaves in that oil, so that each leaf of the bok choy is bathed in heavenly flavor.

Top Tips For This Bok Choy Recipe

You can use bok choy or baby bok choy
Trimming the stem off – don’t trim too much – just the end. Cutting the thick stem off will ensure that the bok choy cooks evenly.
If you don’t have a wok you can use a wide bottomed pan.
Have your ingredients ready before firing up the wok, as things move fast!
Add aromatics to the a cold wok, this helps get the flavor out without burning the ingredients.

Bok Choy Recipe