These garlic bok choy is one of our absolute favorite vegetable side dishes for any meal, holidays, and gatherings! They are crisp, just garlicky enough, and even better topped with some homemade Chinese chili oil! This sauteed bok choy with garlic is a classic and are super easy to make, takes 10 mintues or less, and needs only 5 ingredients.
If there's a vegetable side dish that I'd never get tired of eating, it's this garlic bok choy! It's incredibly easily to make, tastes garlicky yet refreshing, and you can have it ready in 10 minutes or less. What more can we ask for? Lol.
We especially enjoy eating these sauteed bok choy with dishes like Chinese red braised pork, biang biang noodles, crispy pork belly. Sometimes we also like to supplement with some garlic green beans for a little contrast.
Ingredients
- Baby bok choy - We recommend using baby bok choy because they're much more tender and crisp. You can usually find the extra small ones or the regular size baby bok choy at most Asian markets.
- Garlic - Fresh garlic is very important for this quick sauté. The flavor of stir fried garlic cannot be replicated with garlic powder, so highly recommend that you don't skip! You can even use more garlic if you want.
- Salt - Either coarse Kosher salt or fine salt will do.
- Chicken bouillon powder - Chicken bouillon powder is our favorite magical pantry ingredient. Just adding a small amount to dishes makes them taste so much better! If you don't want to use bouillon powder, use a little more salt instead.
- Chili oil (optional) - We enjoy eating this garlic bok choy both plain and sometimes with some homemade Chinese chili oil for a little kick and extra flavor and fragrance.
- Oil (for cooking) - Any neutral oil will do.
How to make this easy garlic bok choy
1. Bring a pot of water to a boil.
2. Meanwhile, prepare the baby bok choy by removing any undesirable leaves and trimming away the excess root on the bok choy. Then, cut the bok choy in half, lengthwise. Wash and rinse the baby bok choy well to get rid of any dirt.
3. Blanche the bok choy by placing them in the boiling water. Cook briefly, about 30 seconds to 1 minute, until the leaves are dark green and the stems are just cooked. Drain and set aside. If you prefer your bok choy more tender, cook it for a little longer.
4. In a pan or work over medium heat, add the oil. Once the oil is hot, add the garlic and stir fry until golden brown and fragrant. Add the blanched bok choy, salt, and chicken bouillon powder. Stir fry and toss for about 30 seconds to distribute the seasonings.
5. Transfer to a serving plate and top with some chili oil if you wish. Enjoy!
Recipe tips
- Make sure to thoroughly clean your baby bok choy to get rid of any dirt and unwanted sediments, especially in between the outer leaves of your bok choy.
- Separate each leaf if you prefer. We like to keep out baby bok choy halved, but if you prefer, you can break off each leaf. It'll be easier to clean thoroughly and a bit faster to cook.
- Make a cut at the root of the bok choy to help it cook faster. When keeping the baby bok choy halved, we like to make make a cut in the thick root part to help it cook faster when blanching.
Storage
After the garlic bok choy is completely cooled, store them in an airtight container, in the fridge, for up to 4 days.
Reheating
You can easily reheat this sauteed bok choy in the microwave or on the stovetop. To reheat in the microwave, make sure to keep it covered and in a microwave safe container when reheating. For the stovetop method, just add the bok choy to a pan over medium heat and reheat until hot. Do note that reheating the bok choy will make it more tender and less crisp than when they were freshly made.
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📖 Recipe
Garlic Bok Choy
Ingredients
- 1 pound baby bok choy
- 1 tablespoon oil any neutral oil will do
- 3 cloves garlic sliced (more if you prefer)
- ¼ teaspoon Kosher salt (fine salt is okay too)
- ¼ teaspoon chicken bouillon powder
- Chinese chili oil (optional for garnish and some spice)
Instructions
- Bring a pot of water to a boil.
- Meanwhile, prepare the baby bok choy by removing any undesirable leaves and trimming away the excess root on the bok choy. Then, cut the bok choy in half, lengthwise. Wash and rinse the baby bok choy well to get rid of any dirt.
- Blanche the bok choy by placing them in the boiling water. Cook briefly, about 30 seconds to 1 minute, until the leaves are dark green and the stems are just cooked. Drain and set aside. If you prefer your bok choy more tender, cook it for a little longer.
- In a pan or work over medium heat, add the oil. Once the oil is hot, add the garlic and stir fry until golden brown and fragrant. Add the blanched bok choy, salt, and chicken bouillon powder. Stir fry and toss for about 30 seconds to distribute the seasonings.
- Transfer to a serving plate and top with some chili oil if you wish. Enjoy!
Notes
- Make sure to thoroughly clean your baby bok choy to get rid of any dirt and unwanted sediments, especially in between the outer leaves of your bok choy.
- Separate each leaf if you prefer. We like to keep out baby bok choy halved, but if you prefer, you can break off each leaf. It'll be easier to clean thoroughly and a bit faster to cook.
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