Sesame Baby Bok Choy Recipe

Bok choy glazed in a heavenly sesame, soy, garlic ginger coating - on your table in 10 minutes! Bok choy is a simple, healthy, quick dinner side that is extremely versatile and the answer to all your side dish woes. It’s made with minimal effort but HUGE flavor from a simple sauce of soy sauce, rice vinegar, toasted sesame oil, Asian sweet chili sauce, garlic and ginger. And if you’ve never cooked with bok choy before, never fear! Bok choy is an easy-to-find, cabbage-like green that’s popular in Asian cuisine. In this post, I’m going to teach you how to select bok choy, how to prepare bok choy and how to cook bok choy using a simple skillet method to produce beautiful caramelized edges and crisp-tender stalks coated in a tantalizing sauce.

Course Side Dish

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 5

Total Time 10

Servings servings

Author [email protected]

Ingredients

1 pound baby bok choy

Sauce

2 tablespoons less sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 tablespoon Asian sweet chili sauce
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
1/8-1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Instructions

Whisk the sauce ingredients together in a small bowl; set aside.
Place the bok choy in a colander and rinse with cold water, rubbing any grit or dirt from between the leaves; pat dry with a kitchen towel or paper towels.
Cut each bok choy in half lengthwise.
Heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the bok choy in a single layer cut side down and cook without stirring until the bottoms start to brown, about 2 minutes. Using tongs, flip the bok choy over and cook until the stalks begin to soften but still have some crunch (the leaves will be wilted), about 2 additional minutes. Transfer to a plate.
Reduce heat to medium-low and add the sauce to the skillet. Simmer for 30 seconds or until slightly thickened whisking constantly (don't burn the garlic!).
Add bok choy back to the skillet and turn with tongs until the sauce glazes each bok choy halve.
Transfer to a platter and garnish with sesame seeds. Serve immediately.

Notes

Tips for This Bok Choy Recipe

Ginger: you may substitute fresh ginger with a heaping 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger and add it directly to the sauce.
Garlic: you may substitute fresh garlic with a heaping 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder and add it directly to the sauce.
Asian sweet chili sauce: not to be confused with "Asian chili sauce" without the sweet. You may substitute with 1 teaspoon brown sugar and additional red pepper flakes.
Thoroughly wash bok choy or else you’ll end up with grit in your recipe.
Thoroughly dry bok choy so it can caramelize and doesn’t just steam.
Use a nonstick skillet so the sauce doesn’t stick to the pan and burn.
Press bok choy down with tongs to ensure it makes contact with the skillet.
It’s okay if the leaves of the bok choy don’t lay in the pan and go up the sides because they take less time cook than the stalks.
The cooking time depends on how tender you want the stalks and wilted you want the leaves.
Don’t overcook the sauce or the garlic can burn and make the sauce bitter.
This bok choy recipe is best served warm.

Storing and Reheating the Leftovers

Storage: Leftover cooked bok choy can be stored in an airtight container for up to 2 days. The leftover stalks will be tasty but the greens can become mushy.
Reheat: Reheat bok choy in skillet over medium-low just until warmed through.