The perfect accompaniment to any main is a simply prepared Chinese vegetable. With the recipe provided, your vegetables may steal the spotlight and become a table favorite.
I put quite a bit of care into the preparation of my vegetables. I suggest you do, too! Nobody likes eating a dirty vegetable or (worse!) a dead buy stowaway! The ingredients are simple and so is the cooking. My vegetable choice is often dictated by what is the most reasonable in price at the market and whichever has the best visual appeal. Some of my favorite finds are: Yu Choy, Bok Choy, Shanghai (or Baby) Bok Choy, Taiwan Bok Choy, and Chinese Broccoli. The recipe will work for any of these just fine.
As with any kitchen workflow, timing is key. I’ll always begin with vegetable prep so that they can reach their peak just before cooking. As soon as vegetable prep is done, bring a large pot of water to boil and start to prep your flavoring. As soon as the flavor prep is done, throw them into the pot whether boiling or not. When your cooking pot comes to a nice rolling boil, add your vegetables and cook to desired doneness.
Vegetable Prep: Let’s start by giving your vegetables a close inspection and deciding what won’t be eaten. I find that when purchasing Chinese leafy greens from my local markets that the store cut ends simply don’t travel well and usually aren’t appetizing to eat. Another issue that I often encounter, are vegetables that are starting to look a bit limp or wilted. Within reason, we can bring these stalks back to life.
I’ll set up my vegetable prep area with two large soaking tubs and a large colander. Fill the first tub halfway with clean cold water.
Bok Choy, Shanghai Baby Bok Choy, Taiwan Bok Choy or any other bulbous-looking choy gets the end that was in the ground trimmed off. Dirt and bugs LOVE to hang out in the center of a bok choy bulb. It’s best to separate all of the leaves. The bulb end is conservatively trimmed by about a centimetre. The larger outer leaves will fall away and may reveal a smaller inner bulb. Place the fallen leaves into the soaking tub and trim again the inner bulb by less to separate them. Repeat until a bulb no longer exists and the tiniest leaves are added to the soaking tub. Repeat this for all of your bok choy.
Yu Choy, Chinese Broccoli, or other leafy stalk vegetables are assessed for stalk tenderness. Depending on when your greens were harvested, they can have thick tough stalks. A flowered stalk may also have an unpleasing texture so I remove and discard the flowers. Typically, each stalk should be trimmed by about a centimetre to remove the store cut end that may have dried out and become less edible. Lining up a single stalk on your cutting board to view the leaves will present a “cutting plan”. I prefer to cut each leaf through the stalk to the end. This will produce a leaf with a long spindle of a stalk still attached. While dividing the leaves and stalks, I will take special care to cut or pinch off any flowers that may be present. Place all leaves and stalks into your soaking tub.
Add water to your soaking tub to submerge all greens. Soak your vegetables for at least two minutes in the first soaking tub full of cold water. This will do two things. First, any sprays, bugs, or dirt will loosen from your vegetables. Second, your vegetables will soak up the cold water and POP to their fullest. If your vegetables were a little sad looking a slightly longer soak time may give them the time they need to absorb more water and become deliciously crunchy fresh again. While we wait for the vegetables in this first soaking, place a large pot of water on the stove and bring to a boil. After your pot is on the burner, if you still have soaking time, you can skip ahead to prepping your aromatics and getting them into the water.
Half fill your second soaking tub with cold water. From the first soaking tub of vegetables, grasp a handful of leaves and swish them around in the tub to shake off any possible dirt. Lift them out of the tub, give them a quick drying shake, and transfer the handful to your second soaking tub. Repeat this for as many handfuls as necessary until there are no more edible greens in your first tub. Try not to examine the remaining contents of the first soak too much or you may lose your appetite. I am often amazed at the amount of dirt (and bugs!) that I can shake out of store bought or garden harvested vegetables.
Let your vegetables soak for at least another two minutes. If they still look a bit limp, give them some more time to live in fresh clean new water. Repeat the swish and shake maneuver in the second tub and transfer to your colander.
Aromatics prep: I love a well flavored vegetable dish. Garlic and ginger are going to give your recipe that great supporting flavor. Prepare 5 cloves of garlic by removing them from the bulb and giving them a good smash on your cutting board. Clear the garlic skins and collect the smashed garlic. Cut 3 or 4 quarter-inch thick slices of ginger. Add both the ginger and the garlic to your pot of water.
Flavor additives: Secrets to creating deep flavor are much easier than you might imagine. Vegetables benefit greatly from a boost of chicken bullion powder and a bit of sugar. Add about a teaspoon of chicken powder and a teaspoon of sugar to the pot. Chicken powder and sugar additions are “to taste” but I recommend adding a teaspoon the first time you use this recipe and adjust as needed the next go ’round. Another secret addition is a teaspoon of oil to the pot. Any neutral oil will do. I recommend vegetable oil. When you remove the vegetables from their cooking liquid they’ll pick up that oil on the surface and look oh so delicious.
Cooking: With your gameplan in mind it’s time to cook! With flavors/aromatics in boil and the vegetables added to the pot, you’ll need to determine how “done” you prefer your choy. I like my vegetables with a little bit of bite so as soon as they turn deep bright green, I’m ready to grab them out of the pot with a pair of tongs. A thicker vegetable like Chinese broccoli may take a few extra minutes of boiling to be edible. Most of the softer leafy (without stem) type choy will cook very quickly. Don’t worry about the garlic or ginger being picked up or left behind. They’ve done their job of adding depth of flavor and are just for show now.
This is just one method of cooking Chinese vegetable greens / choy. There are countless variations but this one is the simplest that I can throw together just about any night of the week to accompany whatever main dish(es) I may have at the table.
A well timed meal where everything comes together just as your rice timer goes off is like a symphony with a masterful ending! With practice and wisdom you’ll have your entire meal sync’ed.