Ginger Garlic Baby Bok Choy

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Ginger Garlic Baby Bok Choy will change the way you eat your greens. This sweet, savory, crunchy and delicious side dish will become one of your favorites.

I saw a meme on Facebook the other day, to calculate how picky of an eatejr you are.  If I took that quiz 25 years ago, my number would be 14…today, it’s 2. Most of my pickiness came from green vegetables; I either loved them or hated them. With leafy greens, my love list was pretty simple: kale. I’ve always loved it, and could eat it every day. I wasnt a fan of the other dark leafy greens because they are too bitter for my tastes. About two years ago I found baby bok choy in the Asian market, and decided to be adventurous. However, my adventure took on baby steps, as I only added it to my Fettucini with Ground Turkey and Vegetables. However, I quickly realized that yes, the baby bok choy is less bitter. As a matter of fact, it has a pretty mild flavor.

WHAT IS BOK CHOY?

Bok choy is a type of Chinese cabbage, known for its flat, dark leaves at the top and white bulb at the bottom. Most grocery stores sell the larger mature bok choy, but you can find baby bok choy in Asian markets and specialty grocery stores.

Mature bok choy has very dark green tops; baby bok choy’s leaves are lighter green. When using mature bok choy you have to cut it up; with baby bok choy, you can use it whole or cut it up. Regardless, make sure to rinse the bok choy thoroughly. Dirt collects in between the leaves and inside the bulbs.

The other day I went to the Asian market, and bok choy was on my list. The market has a large pile of bok choy, and usually I pick and choose the ones I want. However, 2 guys from a local restaurant were there, and they took 4 big bags of the bok choy. After that, there were only a few sad, limp pieces left. Thankfully, I found pre-packaged, mini baby bok choy so I scooped up a couple of them.

I didn’t really have a recipe plan for the bok choy, but I figured something would come to me. I recently had sauteed bok choy at an Asian restaurant, and it was so delicious. So I decided to recreate it at home, as Ginger Garlic Baby Bok Choy

My goodness, this Ginger Garlic Baby Bok Choy is fabulous! The soy sauce adds a rich, vibrant flavor to the bok choy, and even though the bok choy steams, the bulb ends still retain texture and bite. The sesame seeds add the perfect final touch to the dish.

SIMPLE INGREDIENTS FOR GINGER GARLIC BABY BOK CHOY

• Oil: many Asian recipes call for Sesame Oil, but it’s much too powerful for me. If I use it at all, I’ll use just a fraction of what the recipe requires. So, to make things easier, I just use Avocado Oil. It has a wonderful flavor and texture, and a very high smoke point. But if you like sesame oil, definitely use it
• Fresh ginger and garlic: you have to use fresh ginger and garlic for Ginger Garlic Baby Bok Choy. There’s really no other option. Besides, both are inexpensive and widely available in every grocery store.
• Soy Sauce: I always use Low Sodium Soy Sauce; yes, it is still kind of high in sodium, but it has much less than regular
• Sesame Seeds: I use Toasted Sesame Seeds, and always have some in my pantry. I use the standard white sesame seeds, but the Black Sesame Seeds would work just as well, plus add a nice color contrast to the rest of the dish
• Cornstarch: acts as a thickener, to create the beautiful, silky sauce

A couple of years ago, I was on this huge kick of making Asian food at home, and bought a Wok. Actually, I bought 2 of them. After a few months they ended up in the back of the lower kitchen cabinets. You can guess what happened next…I totally forgot about them. The other day I was searching for another pot and came across the woks, and moved them closer to the front. I have a Nonstick Skillet that I use regularly, but for this Ginger Garlic Baby Bok Choy why not use the wok instead?!

GINGER GARLIC BABY BOK CHOY IS SO EASY!

One of my favorite things about Ginger Garlic Baby Bok Choy is that it’s a quick and easy recipe to make. From start to finish, it takes about 10 minutes. The longest part is thickening the sauce. Don’t rush that part…trust me. The sauce becomes almost like a glaze, and adds yet another layer of flavor to the dish. Besides, the bok choy continues to get golden brown, and there’s nothing wrong with that.

Gigner Garlic Baby Bok Choy is now officially part of my vegetable side dish meal plan. I’m already thinking of more ways to incorporate baby bok choy into my diet, including with protein as a main dish and as part of a soup.

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