Bok choy stir fry recipe with a simple Chinese garlic sauce. Follow my tips to cook perfectly tender and crisp baby bok choy in no time. The same recipe also works for regular or large bok choy.
Course Side Dish
Cuisine Chinese, Taiwanese
Keyword bok choy stir fry, Chinese bok choy stir fry recipe
Slice the baby bok choy in half length-wise. For medium-size bok choy, quarter it. For large-size bok choy, Dice into bite-size pieces, keeping the chopped piles separate. Please refer to the notes section.
Rinse the bok choy until they are clean with no dirt between the stalks. Set it aside to drain and pat them dry before stir-frying.
Cook bok choy in stir fry:
Preheat a large 12-inch saute pan over medium heat until you feel gentle warmth when placing your palm near the surface.
Add the oil and place the bok choy cut side down. Pan sear over medium heat for 3 minutes without moving them. You should hear the sizzling sound throughout the whole entire stir-fry process. If not, turn the heat up a bit.
Sprinkle in the salt and the garlic. Stir fry the vegetables for 2 to 3 more minutes. The bok choy is ready when the leaves are wilted and the stalks still have some crunch. Your pan should not be overly watery.
Transfer them out of the pan and garnish with sesame seeds and red pepper flakes, if using.
Notes
You should hear the sizzling sound throughout the whole entire stir-fry process. If not, turn the heat up to medium-high.
If your pan is too wet while you are stir-frying, that means 1) your cook time is too long and 2) your pan temperature is not hot enough during the preheating step.
Sizes of bok choy: baby bok choy is about 4/12-inch, medium size bok choy is about 8 to 9-inch, and the large size bok choy is 10-inch and taller.
For large-size bok choy, I recommend separating the stalks and the leaves into 2 piles and dicing them to bite sizes. You’ll follow the same steps for cleaning and drying. Saute the stalks first then add the leaves.