Brassica chinense Pak Choy
 

What can be cooked from Pak Choy Chinese cabbage?

★★★★★★★★★★★ Vladimir

Looks like it makes a petite or smaller type plant, so you could stir fry it whole or halved in many recipes, or add the small halves or quarters to soups or stews, it can be fried like head cabbage is done too. I like the very young leaves in a salad, either a mixed greens salad or sliced crossways into a slaw type salad. It's good steamed with salt, pepper and a dab of soya sauce or oyster sauce as a side dish by it's self. I've used it for the cabbage in Bubble and Squeak, battered lightly and fired ( not so healthy, but good) and have cut it into bite sized pieces and fried with cubed potatoes. Used it raw, separating the leaves for a dipping agent in salsa to ranch as well.


A pretty versatile plant, like a mild cabbage.

It is tender and mild, like a softer sweeter version of a white cabbage, when harvested young. I use it in all kinds of improvised stir fry dishes. Two of my favorite YouTube cooks are Marion's Kitchen and Maangchi. The former is a half-Thai/half-Australian young woman (and her Thai mom) doing Thai and pan-Asian dishes. The latter is a Korean-American woman in New York. I've been learning a lot about Asian flavors and textures (my next endeavor is to make homemade Japanese udon and soba noodles) from them and others. I'm fortunate to live in a city with several large and many smaller Asian markets.

Think borscht.;)

You could always make some sauerkraut out of some of it.

Nice looking plants! I use it in stir fry dishes as well.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who buys seed packs I can't read! :lol:
Those are nice plants. Lots of kinds of pak choi and there are lots of good suggestions already made. I mostly stir fry mine in combination with whatever else is in the veg crisper.

I forgot, sometimes I would do a quick fridge pickle with quartered bok choy and red onions.

Cabbage carrots potato and onion soup.

[url]https://youtu.be/d-PY9V9kTMY[/url]

[url]https://sweetandsavorymeals.com/oven-roasted-bok-choy/[/url]

We add it to soups and salads.

[QUOTE=Worth1;746790]Think borscht.;)[/QUOTE]


I like borscht. I'll try.
Vladimír

[QUOTE=Nematode;746826][url]https://sweetandsavorymeals.com/oven-roasted-bok-choy/[/url][/QUOTE]

Thanks, it looks simple, I'll try.

Vladimír

[QUOTE=kilroyscarnival;746765]It is tender and mild, like a softer sweeter version of a white cabbage, when harvested young. I use it in all kinds of improvised stir fry dishes. Two of my favorite YouTube cooks are Marion's Kitchen and Maangchi. The former is a half-Thai/half-Australian young woman (and her Thai mom) doing Thai and pan-Asian dishes. The latter is a Korean-American woman in New York. I've been learning a lot about Asian flavors and textures (my next endeavor is to make homemade Japanese udon and soba noodles) from them and others. I'm fortunate to live in a city with several large and many smaller Asian markets.[/QUOTE]

Can you give me links to the two chefs on YouTube? I would like to try something unusual for us Europeans. I like to taste foreign food, only the question is whether I can cook it.
Vladimír

I like some of this lady's videos as she is clear both in amounts/ measurements and in techniques.


[url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrOhfTvp0DQ&t=485s[/url]

I did "Oven Roasted Bok Choy with Garlic". It was easy, but it didn't taste me. Anyone have any more tips? Maybe something Chinese, but not video, it's hard for me to understand the spoken word.
Vladimír

I don't think I would oven roast bok choy perhaps, but braise it if in the oven.


Here is a good recipe, quick and adaptable, too:


[url]https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/garlicky-bok-choy[/url]


[B]Ingredients[/B]

[LIST][*]1 tablespoon vegetable oil[*]2 garlic cloves, chopped[*]1 shallot, chopped[*]1 pound baby bok choy, rinsed, cut into quarters, with core intact[*]1 tablespoon reduced-sodium soy sauce[/LIST][B]Recipe Preparation[/B]

[LIST][*]Heat oil in a large skillet or wok over medium-high heat. Add garlic and shallot and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add bok choy, soy sauce, and 2 Tbsp. water and cover immediately. Cook 1 minute. Uncover and toss, then cover and cook until bok choy is tender at the core, about 3 more minutes.
[/LIST]

[QUOTE=MrBig46;746848]Can you give me links to the two chefs on YouTube? I would like to try something unusual for us Europeans. I like to taste foreign food, only the question is whether I can cook it.
Vladimír[/QUOTE]

Sure! This is a link to Marion's Kitchen: [url]https://www.youtube.com/user/Marionskitchen[/url]

And Maangchi is at [url]https://www.youtube.com/user/Maangchi[/url]

I think Maangchi's recipes are all Americanized in that they are in cup measurements, pounds and nothing metric, but a great many of the recipes you can do a rough translation into grams and ml. I watch so many cooks on YouTube (and Bake-Off from the UK) that I've done a fair amount of baking with my scale in grams.

I steamed Pak Choy and I added it to the borscht. Great. Pak Choy steamed tasted me.
Vladimír

I like winter vegetables cooked as greens. Typically collard greens, mustard greens; and Bok Choy make the best mixed greens. We eat them all winter fresh and also freeze them for summer meals.


I have a really large pot which I fill with greens, add seasonings and water and cook them down to about 1/4 their starting volume.

[QUOTE=DonDuck;747735]I like winter vegetables cooked as greens. Typically collard greens, mustard greens; and Bok Choy make the best mixed greens. We eat them all winter fresh and also freeze them for summer meals.


I have a really large pot which I fill with greens, add seasonings and water and cook them down to about 1/4 their starting volume.[/QUOTE]

What spices do you put in there?
Vladimír

I lightly season the pot after the greens have cooked down and I have tasted them. Fresh garden greens change taste thru out the winter. I use the basic seasoning like salt, pepper, fresh garlic or garlic powder; and chicken bouillon. I'm careful to not over season because I want the mixed greens taste to stand out. I cook the greens on medium or low for a long time until they are really soft and then adjust seasonings at the end. If I have any kind of salted, cured pork; I may add some to the pot while the greens are cooking. I purposely have more liquid than greens when they finish cooking and save the excess liquid, which freezes well; for soup base in the future.


Saving the liquid is a southern tradition where it is called the "liquor". The liquor is packed full of nutrients and minerals from garden greens and seems to have a rejuvenating effect on my body. In the coldest and darkest part of winter, my body starts craving the taste and effects of garden greens with the liquor.

Bok Choy/ Pak Choi is one we can grow under lights in the winter. We often eat it in salads - especially the stems provide some crunchy bits that we enjoy. Some varieties have a stronger flavor leaf, others are mild. Either way, the greens are super tender under lights so they are at their best for fresh eating.


Here is a very simple recipe for a Chinese style dish:


I cook rice on the side to serve plain with this dish, so usually put that on first.



If meat is going in the dish, prepare it first by chopping small pieces, place them in a bowl and sprinkle with a quarter tsp pepper and a tablespoon of sherry or brandy.

Vegetables: bok choy, carrots, green onions (and/or other favorites) can be chopped in advance.
Prepare cooking sauce:

In a small bowl combine 1 tbsp corn starch or tapioca flour, 1 tbs sugar or honey, 1 tbs sherry or brandy, 1 tbs rice vinegar, 2 tbs soy sauce, plus water - stir to mix.

Put some oil in a large fry pan, and add finely chopped ginger root, grated garlic, and a half tsp of cayenne pepper.

Heat up the pan and quickly saute your meat while stirring. If pork, I also add a dash of sesame oil as it cooks. If using nuts instead (eg cashews) I add sesame oil as well, and saute just for one minute.

In a few minutes, as soon as meat is cooked through, add the chopped vegetables and stir fry for one-two minutes. Pour on the cooking sauce and cook, stirring, until it thickens (about a minute).


Serve over plain rice.



Note: the more 'professional' version of this dish will remove the meat after cooking, cook the veggies separately, and combine the two at the end with the sauce. This is a lot of extra work for a 'bored cook must eat' like myself, and I don't see a big difference in the end result, so I skip the juggling and make it a quicker meal. ;)