Thursday, May 19, 2011

Sweet & Spicy Roasted Baby Bok Choy ~ Any Suggestions?

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It's a pretty Chinese Cabbage I have little experience with and truth be told, I debated posting this at all...but I'm looking for suggestions...

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Here is what I did....

Cut the Bok Choy down the center vertically and rinsed it extremely well to rid the crevasses of sand....

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{  SIDE NOTE: according to WEBSTER to "roast" something is to cook it with "an extreme dry heat" so maybe this Bok Choy isn't "roasted" at all???  }

Next, I placed the bok choy in a foil lined pan and drizzled it with a combination of soy sauce, sesame oil, Asian chili garlic sauce and a sprinkle of brown sugar (not swimming in liquid whatsoever...)

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Then cooked the Bok Choy in a 400 degree oven for 15 minutes. 

While the flavor of the sauce was delicious...the Bok Choy itself was difficult to cut and eat.

Do you have a lot of experience with Bok Choy and if so...how do you prepare it? 

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11 comments:

Andrea the Kitchen Witch said...

I've only worked with baby bok choy a few times. My bok choy's were even smaller than yours but they were still tough by the core :( I love the flavors you added, it sounds dynamite!! When I made mine it was to accompany a teriyaki beef, so I halved them like you did, rinsed well and peeled off any wilted or tough outer leaves. I then drizzled with oil and soy sauce & cooked in the same pan as the beef, covered with a splash of water to steam and deglaze the pan some, until they were tender(ish) so like 4-5 minutes. I tossed them around in the pan to pick up more of the fond that they had cooked in and served with the beef. they were good, but like I said before they were still tough near the stalks, however the steaming did help that some. I'm guessing if you wanted to eliminate that toughness just cut the stalk out entirely, however then you'd have just leaves... dilemma! Next time bok choy is on sale I'll get some & let you know if I come up with anything different :)

Unknown said...

Thanks Andrea! Yes... I need to play around with it some more too! Maybe cutting it up first would help?

hehehe - I wrote "BOY CHOY" LOL! I fixed it :)

Karen said...

I usually cut mine into pieces, sliced crosswise...otherwise it's a pain to cut after it's cooked. Mine goes into stir-fry or braised in soups. I do like the meaty stems, but to me it just doesn't really hold up well as a side dish on it's own. More of a filler and adds some color. Your flavors sound fantastic though...I bet that sauce was tasty.

Katerina said...

To be honest I have never cooked this vegetable. The way you made it looks very delicious and I am sure you will find many other ways to cook it as great!

Courtney said...

Oh, baby bok choy - it's such a tough vegetable because it's really not that versatile! We've received quite a bit of it in our CSA produce box. I always take the easy way out and throw it into stir-fries and soups!

Bake-A-Holic said...

Linked to you from Indigo's blog. "lover of all things culinary...master of nothing...". Made me laugh!! That's how I feel. I look forward to browsing through your blog.

Magic of Spice said...

It is a tough one to work with...I always steam prior to sauteing, but it is not one that I have a great deal of expertise with for sure.

Mary Bergfeld said...

You did really well with this. It can also be grilled, stir-fried or steamed. In China we were served steamed bok choy that was light covered with a thin but milky sauce. It was delicious. I hope you have a great day. Blessings...Mary

Anonymous said...

I only prepare it the only way I have been successful with which is sauteeing: http://cocinadiary.blogspot.com/2010/12/ginger-garlic-bok-choy.html

Maria
COcina Diary

Unknown said...

I think you've gotten a lot of the same advice I would have given you regarding bok choy :) But.. I'm going to give my 2 cents anyway!!
I've really only used boy choy in stir fry dishes. Slicing it up and then stir frying it quickly. I think the smaller the pieces the less you'll have to worry about the noticeable toughness.
Looks great though! Love the flavors!

Unknown said...

Thanks everyone!!!! Sounds like chopped up in a stir fry is the way to go! XOXO