Name: Simple Stir-Fried Bok Choy with Scallion Oil 清炒上海青
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 5 min
Total time: 20 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Chinese
Ingredients: 1 pound (450 grams) bok choy, ends trimmed, halved or quartered; 2 tablespoons scallion oil; Optional aromatics: a handful of thinly sliced scallions (both green and white parts), sliced garlic, or sliced (peeled) ginger; 1 teaspoon kosher salt; ¾ teaspoon sugar; ¼ teaspoon MSG or ½ teaspoon mushroom bouillon powder; ½ teaspoon potato starch or ¾ teaspoon cornstarch; 2 tablespoons cold water

Simple Stir-Fried Bok Choy with Scallion Oil 清炒上海青

How to cook bok choy, Chinese-restaurant style. A piping hot dish of juicy, succulent stems and soft, fragrant leaves, sautéed with scallion oil.

Author: Hannah
Prep Time: 15
Cook Time: 5
Total Time: 20 minutes
Yield: 4 1x
Category: Leafy Greens
Method: Stir-fry
Cuisine: Chinese
Diet: Vegan

Ingredients

Scale

1 pound (450 grams) bok choy, ends trimmed, halved or quartered
2 tablespoons scallion oil
Optional aromatics: a handful of thinly sliced scallions (both green and white parts), sliced garlic, or sliced (peeled) ginger

The white sauce:

1 teaspoon kosher salt
¾ teaspoon sugar
¼ teaspoon MSG or ½ teaspoon mushroom bouillon powder

The starch slurry:

½ teaspoon potato starch or ¾ teaspoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons cold water

Instructions

Wash the bok choy. Trim the bottom end of each stalk with a paring knife— don’t cut too much, as you want to try to keep the stems and leaves attached. Cut the stalks in half and tear to separate the leaves. Cut any larger bok choy into quarters. Soak the bok choy pieces in a big basin of water and run your fingers through to loosen any dirt or sand between the stalks. Rinse and empty out the water, then soak again, repeating until the water is clear and free of grit.
Prepare the sauce and the starch slurry. In a small bowl, combine the salt, sugar, and MSG or bouillon powder and water, and whisk until dissolved. In a separate small bowl, mix together the cornstarch (or potato starch) and water.
Blanch the bok choy. Bring a big pot of water to a rolling boil and blanch the bok choy for 30 seconds to 1 minute, until the bok choy is about 70% cooked (七成熟). Tip: use boiling water from a kettle— it’s much faster! The stalks should be vibrant green but still crunchy, and the leaves slightly softened. It’s extremely important that you don’t overcook the bok choy at this point, as you’ll be cooking a second time in the wok. Haul the bok choy out with a colander or strainer and shake a few times to drain (no need to shock in cold water).
Stir-fry. Heat the wok over medium-high heat until it’s slightly smoking, then add the scallion oil and swirl to coat the sides. Add the optional aromatics, if using, and stir-fry until fragrant. Add the blanched bok choy and toss just long enough so that it’s coated in the fragrant oil, then give the sauce a whisk and stir it in until incorporated. Give the starch slurry a whisk and add it to the center of the wok. Briskly fold it in until the liquid at the bottom of the wok thickens and clings to the stalks and leaves.
Serve immediately! This makes a wonderful vegetable dish served with rice.

Notes

If you don’t have scallion oil on hand, simply use regular vegetable oil and scallions (both white and green parts, thinly sliced), added to the wok after you heat the oil.
The stir-frying should also take less than a minute— remember, the bok choy is already cooked from the blanching step. You just want to coat it in the oil and the seasonings.

Find it online: https://theplantbasedwok.com/simple-stir-fried-bok-choy/