Bok choy braised with garlic

April 12, 2014 at 10:32 pm (Cruciferous rich, Dark leafy greens, unrated, Vegetable dishes)

I wanted a quick way to use up some bok choy last week, and choose this recipe from Cook’s Illustrated. Normally I stir-fry bok choy, so I was curious how it would taste braised instead.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 tablespoons peanut oil
• 1 medium head bok choy (1 1/2 to 1 3/4 pounds),  stalks cut into 1/4-inch slices and leafy greens sliced crosswise into 1/2-inch strips (about 5 cups each sliced stalks and sliced greens)
• 4 medium cloves garlic, minced or pressed through garlic press
• 3/4 cup chicken stock (I used vegetable broth)
• salt and ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon rice vinegar

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Heat large nonstick skillet over high heat until hot, about 2 minutes. Add oil, swirl to coat pan bottom. Add bok choy stalks and cook, stirring frequently, until lightly browned, 5 to 7 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add bok choy greens, stock, and salt and pepper to taste. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook, stirring twice, until bok choy is very tender, 8 to 10 minutes.
2. Remove cover, increase heat to medium-high, and cook until excess liquid evaporates, 2 to 3 minutes. (Bok choy should be moist but not soupy.) Stir in rice vinegar and adjust seasonings with salt and pepper; serve immediately.

My notes:

Salt the bok choy to taste, when it still has 8 to 10 minutes to cook? Really? <Sigh>

The amount of liquid seemed excessive. Even after the bok choy was tender I had to cook it down for quite a while to get it to reduce. I think perhaps my heat wasn’t up high enough. Probably a lot of the liquid should have evaporated as soon as it hit the hot pan. So in the end the bok choy seemed a bit overcooked. It tasted fine, but wasn’t too exciting. I think that next time I will probably just stir-fry the bok choy, and skip the extra 10 minutes needed to braise it.