Fresh and healthy! This Bok Choy Stir Fry takes only 15 minutes and 3 ingredients. It's a simple way to enjoy one of our favorite vegetables.
Bok choy! This is a popular Chinese vegetable that's served in restaurants all over Hawaii.
It's on the menu as a stir fry in Chinese restaurants, incorporated into local noodle dishes, and even served with oxtail soup at Neiman Marcus!
You can buy boy choy at pretty much every supermarket here. I like to get it at farmers market if possible, it feels extra fresh. For this post we used baby bok choy from the Manoa Farmers Market (located at Manoa Marketplace).
There are only two vendors at the Tuesday market but because we're often running errands in Manoa (including getting that Taco Tuesday deal at Leahi Health), it's an easy stop that doesn't require extra driving.
Ingredients
Here's what you'll need:
- Baby bok choy - You can also use regular bok choy, but try to find baby bok choy if you can. It's more tender and sweet. (Many markets that carry regular bok choy also have baby bok choy.)
- Garlic - Feel free to use even more than what the recipe calls for. The more garlic, the tastier!
- Fish sauce - We like these two brands of fish sauce.
Instructions
Let's get cooking!
Prepare the baby bok choy.
Wash and clean the baby bok choy well. Place in a colander to drain.
Cook the garlic.
In a large pan, add a little oil and then the garlic. Cook the garlic over medium-high heat for 1 minute.
Cook the baby bok choy.
Then add the baby bok choy and stir fry for about 4-5 minutes. Cook until the leaves are a bright, vibrant green color and the stems are tender.
Season and enjoy.
Season with the fish sauce. Cook for 30 more seconds. Remove from heat. Eat and enjoy!
Top Tip
We love eating vegetables but sometimes don't eat as much as we would like to. Why? Because it's a lot of work to clean and prep vegetables. It's not hard work, but it takes time.
There's no perfection solution (at least not one I have found yet hahha), but now I like to buy a lot of bok choy at once, then clean and prep them all the same day. I even mince all the garlic ahead of time.
Then for the next couple of days, it's easy to add a quick bok choy stir fry to any meal because the cooking part takes less then 10 minutes!
FAQ
Yes you can! Because regular bok choy is larger, you'll need to separate the stems and the leaves. I also cut the stem in half lengthwise so that it cooks more quickly.
After you heat the garlic in oil, add the stems first. Cook for 1-2 minutes, and then add the leaves.
Replace the fish sauce with:
- Vegan fish sauce.
- A mixture of shoyu / soy sauce and sesame oil.
Leftovers keep in the refrigerator for 2-3 days. Reheat in the microwave or on the stove top (use a small pan and reheat over medium heat).
Try these:
- Taiwan Spinach
- Chinese Celery
- Choy Sum
- Bean Sprouts Stir Fry
- Stir Fried Lettuce
- Garlic and Fish Sauce Ong Choy (aka Chinese water spinach)
Bok Choy Stir Fry Recipe
Bok Choy Stir Fry
Ingredients
- 1 pound baby bok choy
- 6 cloves garlic minced
- 2 teaspoons fish sauce
Instructions
- Wash and clean the baby bok choy well. Place in a colander to drain.
- In a large pan, add a little oil and then the garlic. Cook the garlic over medium-high heat for 1 minute.
- Then add the baby bok choy and stir fry for about 4-5 minutes. Cook until the leaves are a bright, vibrant green color and the stems are tender.
- Season with the fish sauce. Cook for 30 more seconds. Remove from heat. Eat and enjoy!
Mahalo for Reading!