This simple stir fried garlic baby bok choy dish is the way we tend to prepare baby bok choy almost every week. It’s so quick, easy, and healthy. Summer—and with it, grill season—is fast approaching, and I like this garlic baby bok choy as an alternative to just a regular salad as a vegetable side. Stir fried garlic baby bok choy is quick and easy so it’s also great as a holiday side dish
There are a couple types of “bok choy.” Some have thick white stems with dark green leaves, and others have more tender light green stems with smoother green leaves. In my younger days, bok choy generally meant the white bok choy variety that grew quite large. These vegetables were more commonly found in Chinese restaurants at the time, run by enterprising blue collar folks not formally schooled in the culinary arts (like me).
A lot of these restaurants were heavily adjusted to Western tastes, of course, where the bok choy was used in dishes like moo goo gai pan or chicken chow mein. In fact, I remember the delivery trucks bringing wooden crates of these large vegetables into the Holiday Inn when I worked with my father serving up mostly Chinese-American cuisine.
Green bok choy, sometimes referred to and Shanghai baby bok choy is more common today, as they are more tender, harvested earlier, marketed as baby bok choy, and quite common nowadays. Both pictures below were taken from the Burpee site for “white bok choy” and “green bok choy” in case you want to purchase some seeds and grow them yourselves. My mother used to grow both in our garden in upstate NY, where I had the pleasure of watering and weeding the garden every day.
But back to the point of this post: how to cook a quick and easy leafy green garlicky side dish that completes any meal. The Shanghai baby bok choy is the one featured in this recipe, and can be found in any Chinese grocery store. It’s also great when tossed in noodle soups or dumpling fillings.
Here’s what you’ll need for your garlic baby bok choy:
- 1 pound baby bok choy
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 5 cloves minced garlic
- salt and white pepper, to taste
- Pinch of sugar
Trim the bottoms off of each bundle of bok choy, and split them in half or quarters. Just make sure all of the pieces are relatively uniform so they cook evenly. You can leave them whole if they’re very small and tender.
Wash thoroughly with cold water two to three times. These days, we’re never too cautious about making sure all of the dirt and pesticides are rinsed away. The best method is to use a large basin or sink to rinse and swirl around the vegetables letting them soak for a few minutes before draining and washing again. Shake off the excess water after the final rinse and transfer to a colander to drain. It is important to drain the vegetables well since these veggies will release quite a bit of water during the cooking process.
Heat the wok over high heat until smoking, and add 2 tablespoons oil.
Swirl around the oil so the wok is coated. Add all of the garlic…
And immediately add the bok choy. Move quickly to stir and sauté the greens in the oil and garlic. Stir quickly so you don’t burn the garlic!
Use a folding motion to turn the vegetables or use tongs if that is easier. Once the vegetables begin to wilt, about 30 seconds, add salt, pepper, and sugar. How long you cook them from here is all personal preference. Judy likes to cook them a bit longer for a softer texture while I like them a little bit more crisp.
Plate and serve your stir fried garlic baby bok choy immediately.
- 1 pound baby bok choy
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 5 cloves minced garlic
- salt and white pepper, to taste
- Pinch of sugar
- Trim the bottoms off of each bundle of bok choy, and split them in half or quarters. Just make sure all of the pieces are relatively uniform so they cook evenly. You can leave them whole if they’re very small and tender.
- Wash thoroughly with cold water two to three times. These days, we’re never too cautious about making sure all of the dirt and pesticides are rinsed away. The best method is to use a large basin or sink to rinse and swirl around the vegetables letting them soak for a few minutes before draining and washing again. Shake off the excess water after the final rinse and transfer to a colander to drain. It is important to drain the vegetables well since these veggies will release quite a bit of water during the cooking process.
- Heat the wok over high heat until smoking, and add 2 tablespoons oil. Swirl around the oil so the wok is coated. Add all of the garlic and immediately add the bok choy. Move quickly to stir and sauté the greens in the oil and garlic. Stir quickly so you don’t burn the garlic!
- Use a folding motion to turn the vegetables or use tongs if that is easier. Once the vegetables begin to wilt, about 30 seconds, add salt, pepper, and sugar. How long you cook them from here is all personal preference. Judy likes to cook them a bit longer for a softer texture while I like them a little bit more crisp. Plate and serve immediately.
ArtyJ says
Why do you always seem to add a pinch of sugar to recipes?
Bill says
Good question ArtyJ! As my mother used to say, it balances the salt flavor and makes a dish tastier. For some dishes, sugar takes the edge off acidic or sour ingredients. You’d be surprised how much sugar goes into restaurant recipes. Sometimes too much in my opinion, but I like to add “just enough” depending upon the dish. Over time, you’ll learn your personal tastes on how much sugar to add to what dishes. Happy cooking!
Lance Owens says
Thanks for your many recipes — I have read many dozens of them, and cooked several of them. You have provided is a wonderful introduction to Chinese and Asian cooking, with great photos and instructions. I love reading all your recipes. I choose one every few days to try. But like most cooks, I also experiment with the basics….
Let me add a comment for users of the site. In this post we have a very basic bok choy recipe. This is one I use frequently. But if you are going to cook, I encourage you to experiment with the basics. Bok Choy is a classic, simple, stir fry dish Usually I pair it with a meat dish. But it is also pretty bland in this basic form, even with the garlic. Spicier meat dishes need a little more zip on the accompanying dish than this basic Bok Choy. provides — at least to my taste.
Try this experiment: Soak a handful of shiitake dry mushrooms in warm water. Coarse-chop some Thai basil. Add some ginger to the garlic. Then stir fry the Bok Choy with the Thai basil and the rehydrated Shiitake mushrooms. Add a TBS of oyster sauce. Add in a little of the water used to rehydrate the mushrooms.
There — you have taken a basic recipe a step in a different direction. This modification pairs well with many other dishes, including things like broiled Salmon.
After I got get going with a few of these recipes, I have enjoyed doing my own experiments. That is the fun of cooking! Again, thanks to your family for doing blog.
Judy says
Awesome suggestions! Thank you so much, Lance!
Heather says
What type and brand of wok do you use. I need to purchase one. I usually buy online at Amazon.
Thanks
Bill says
Hi Heather, we don’t have any particular brand we use. They have been non-labeled products we purchased in Asian grocery and cookware shops. That said, we do prefer carbon steel woks.
Rick Beck says
Looks great–but how do you suggest a diner eat one of those multi-stemmed and multi-leaved bulbous bok choys with a pair of chopsticks? Chew it like an apple while holding the mass between the chopsticks? or?
Bill says
Hi Rick, That’s what I do – just chew pieces off and eat them in 2 or 3 bites!
Allan says
I made the bok choy almost as suggested, I used 3 cloves of garlic, 2 tablespoons of canola, simply because I didn’t have peanut oil on hand, a little lite soy sauce, chili flakes 2 taste, a little sugar, some ginger and a sprinkle of salt, and made it in the wok, sautéed only for a minute or so, then I removed from wok, I had rice cooking, I made a stir fry this eve, so I added some beef from a sirloin roast we had leftover the other eve, which I marinated in lite terriaki and soya and added a garlic clove, ginger and mushrooms and green pepper strips and cooked the whole concoction in the wok, I tell you, this was absolutely delicious, the meat was so tender, I forgot 2 mention that at the very end I did put the bok choy back into the wok.
Bill says
Hi Allan, Way to improvise to make a delicious dinner!