Pictorial: Bok Choy with Garlic

[hzrt8w]

Bok Choy with Garlic (蒜容白菜)

We bought some very nice, fresh bok choy from the grocer. I made a very, very simple dish using only salt and garlic as seasoning. Usually we stir-fry vegetables with oil and garlic added to the pan/wok at the beginning. Tonight I wanted to cook this like what some restaurants do: blanch the bok choy first, then fry some minced garlic with salt in oil until golden brown before pouring on top of the vegetable. This way, the taste of the garlic remains strong with the vegetable instead of dissolved in the excess water.

We bought a little over a pound of bok choy. Peel off each stem and wash well.

Use a pan/wok, add in a cup or 2 of water. Blanch the bok choy first over high heat. It takes about 5 to 10 minutes. Remove bok choy. Drain excess water and lay on dinner plate.

While the bok choy is blanching, minced 5-6 cloves of garlic. Heat up a pan/wok to high temperature, add a bit of cooking oil, add minced garlic and a pinch of salt. Cook for about 30 seconds until garlic turns brown. Stir well.

Pour the garlic/salt mixture on top of the cooked bok choy. Finished.

[Dejah]

I think you'd get more of the garlic flavour if you tossed the blanched bok choy in the pan with the garlic, oil and salt.

[Tepee]

So I like my food to look pretty....bok choy is one of those veg which, after blanching, I like to arrange it all side by side (overlapping a bit) all in one direction, then drizzle with the garlic, oil and oyster sauce.

[hzrt8w]

So I like my food to look pretty....bok choy is one of those veg which, after blanching, I like to arrange it all side by side (overlapping a bit) all in one direction, then drizzle with the garlic, oil and oyster sauce.

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I do that too when time permits. (I should have done that for the picture. ) But when we are in a hurry, like when hunger is protesting, this step is skipped.

Edited September 26, 2005 by hzrt8w (log)

[hzrt8w]

I think you'd get more of the garlic flavour if you tossed the blanched bok choy in the pan with the garlic, oil and salt.

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We do that too, most of the time. Sometimes we really like to taste the crunchy, dry fried garlic. Frying the garlic with salt until brown and crunchy (but without overdoing it where garlic turns black (charcoal)), and pour on top of the blanched bok choy can retain the texture that we like.

[Genny]

hzrt8w- Nice job, so beautifully simple! Thanks for the demo. Do you ever blanch in stock?

[muichoi]

So I like my food to look pretty....bok choy is one of those veg which, after blanching, I like to arrange it all side by side (overlapping a bit) all in one direction, then drizzle with the garlic, oil and oyster sauce.

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I find the best way to do this is to blanch the whole vegetable then refresh in cold water, then arrange on a plate-the vegetable can then be cut into eating sized pieces while keeping the visual form of the original. The plate is then covered in plastic film and microwaved until hot, excess liquid carefully drained,dressed and served. I think blanching for ten minutes in not much water is not a good way to proceed-you need LOTS of water and 30 seconds-1 minute,then plunge into iced water. I generally disapprove of the bringing of western technique to Chinese food, but as with genuine simmering instead of the slow boiling practiced all over Asia this gives a very much better result. Of course, if you don't mind about the appearance then the taste is better if you don't refresh and serve immediately.

[hzrt8w]

We can probably start a new threat to have some general discussions:

In home cooking, trading off a little bit of taste for convenience. Or trading off a little bit of visual appeal for time saving.

Chinese restaurants always have a big pot of boiling hot water ready next to the wok. Quickly blanching one or two servings of vegetables virtually take no time. In home cooking for 2, just boiling a pot of hot water would take over 10 minutes... for blanching 4 stalks of bok choy? I would trade off a little bit of taste for convenience.

It is nice to lay the vegetable side by side, or even use some carrots to create some animal shapes to put around the serving plate. But in an everyday affair where you dine at home with your spouse and kids, how many of us would take the extra 5 to 10 minutes to create the extra visual appeal - especially in the end if your spouse only watches the TV instead of the dishe during dinner anyway...

Edited September 27, 2005 by hzrt8w (log)

[muichoi]

I know what you mean, but having gone to the trouble of buying the stuff, I like to show it respect by giving it that extra 5-10 minutes.

[Tepee]

To expand on my post above.....

I prefer baby/medium-sized bok choy to the larger ones. So blanching them doesn't take more than a minute or 2. I start boiling the water as I clean the vegetables. If I were to cook the larger bok choys, I won't blanch it whole...rather I'd separate the thicker stems from the leaves...throw the stems in, followed by the leaves half a minute later. Then after fishing them out, arrange stalks at the bottom and leaves on top. Yeah, I know, I can be anal about such things....

Haven't done the microwave method before. Would this extra step produce yellowish vegetables? While I still have my full set of teeth, my personal preference is vegetables which are slightly undercooked (after all, the vegetables will still continue to cook on residual heat after being taken off the fire) rather than yellow overcooked soft vegetables.

Yeah, Hz, I think we need to start a new thread on

Visual Appeal vs Time Saved in the context of home-cooking, or

Save time in the kitchen - multitask, or

What are the permissable shortcuts?

Edited September 27, 2005 by Tepee (log)

[muichoi]

Doesn't produce yellowish vegetables at all. On the contrary far greener owing to the setting of the clorophyll in cold water-though of course one must take the greatest care not to microwave for too long. My method produces a deliciously al dente result.

[Dejah]

Doesn't produce yellowish vegetables at all. On the contrary far greener owing to the setting of the clorophyll in cold water-though of course one must take the greatest care not to microwave for too long. My method produces a deliciously al dente result.

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To prevent yellowing, you must do the cold water bath step. I never blanch my small bok choy or gai lan on the stove. I do it in the microwave while I am cooking the rest of the ingredients. As soon as the timer goes off, I rinse the veg. in a colander under the cold water tap, and top with the stuff from the wok. If I start them too early, I forget about them, THEN they turn yellow.

With the large bok choy, I just cut them into bite-size pieces and cook them a little longer in the wok with broth. The leaves are thrown in when the stalk is nearly done.

I am like Tepee when it comes to gai lan Shanghai bok choy. I like to arrange them even when I don't have compnay.

[muichoi]

I must admit I don't particularly like green vegetables cooked from scratch in the microwave, but reheating blanched and refreshed is good.

[Dejah]

I must admit I don't particularly like green vegetables cooked from scratch in the microwave, but reheating blanched and refreshed is good.

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Definitely not green leafy vegs cooked in the microwave. As you said, blanching and reheating is very convenient.

I DO cook veg such as carrots and cauliflower for non-Asian dishes in the microwave.

Again, this is more of a steaming process in the microwave rather than dry cooking.

If I may ask, muichoi, are you involved in the restaurant biz or an avid, knowledgeable home chef? You've added fresh interest to the forum. Thanks!