Sean and I have been on a serious Asian food kick since returning from our Southeast Asia honeymoon at the beginning of the year. We’ve been experimenting with new flavors, visiting Asian grocery stores in Atlanta, and making some recipes from our Vietnamese cooking class.
But it was the threat of an ice storm that had me leaving work early and running to the grocery store that resulted in this delicious bok choy stir-fry.
This dish is easy and quick to make – you may even have most of the ingredients in your kitchen and pantry already.
When I arrived at the grocery store, I was looking for something to go with some pot-stickers and steam buns that we had in the freezer, as well as some leftover jasmine rice from dinner the night before. I figured a bok choy stir fry would be the perfect vegetable dish. If I’d not had the pot-stickers and steam buns, I would have likely added shrimp or pork to the stir-fry and served that over rice. This dish is very versatile!
Ginger, garlic, red chili and scallions combined perfectly with the bok choy in the wok. I just love the smell of the fresh garlic and ginger cooking together!!
We had pork and kimchi pot-stickers, and leek, pork and dried shrimp steam buns cooking on the stove while I prepped and got the stir-fry going.
After the garlic and ginger were sizzling in the wok, I added the white parts of the scallions, the white stems of the bok choy and the red chili.
After a couple of minutes, I added the green leaves of the bok choy and the green scallions. I tossed this together for about 2-3 minutes until the leaves were just wilted. I finished it with a very light drizzle of toasted sesame oil (optional).
A simple, filling and wholly delicious meal!
- 2 lbs bok choy, rinsed, dried then cut into strips - separating the white stalks from the leaves
- 1 red chili pepper, thinly sliced
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 thumb-sized piece of ginger, grated
- 2 scallions chopped - white parts separated from green parts
- salt and pepper to taste
- Flavorless oil (canola, etc.)
- toasted sesame oil (optional)
- Add 1 tbsp of oil to wok along with garlic and ginger
- Cook over medium heat until it become fragrant and is sizzling - 3-4 minutes
- Add white stalks of bok choy, the red chili, and the white parts of the scallions. Cook 3-4 more minutes, stirring frequently
- Add leafy greens and the green parts of the scallions, cook until leaves are wilted about 2 minutes.
- Add salt and pepper to taste, and add a drizzle of toasted sesame oil. Mix to combine.
- Serve as a side dish or over rice.