Bok choy is the Asian member of the cabbage family that looks a little like chunky celery. It has smooth dark green leaves at the top of long pale green stalks.
It also finds itself saddled with several slightly different English spellings – bok choy, bok choi, pak choy, pac choi – or labeled “Chinese chard” or “Chinese mustard.”
Celia Barss, manager of Woodland Gardens, a certified organic market garden in Winterville, about 10 minutes from Athens, grows lots of bok choy, but only the baby variety. “It’s what our customers want and it’s the most popular of all the Asian vegetables we grow,” she said.
Last week Barss and friends opened the Freedom Farmers Market at The Carter Center on Freedom Parkway in the Poncey-Highland neighborhood of Atlanta. The market is open Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and features farmers, a cheese maker, a coffee roaster, baked goods from Cakes and Ale and Star Provisions and a pasta maker among other vendors. And there’s a restaurant pop-up tent each week with a different chef preparing dishes to enjoy on the spot.
Barss starts her bok choy plantings in August and seeds them about every week until winter. “We seed it in the greenhouse and then transplant about 55 feet every week or every other week. When we plant more, we have more for restaurants. When we plant less, it’s just for our farmers market customers. And we usually stop planting in May because the yellow-margined leaf beetle moves in and decimates all my Asian vegetables. There’s no organically approved pesticide to deal with this pest, so we just stop growing it,” she said.
Most of her customers enjoy their baby bok choy in stir fries. “It cooks quickly and that makes it easy for people to use on weeknights. I like slicing them in half and roasting them whole in the oven for about 15 minutes. It’s pretty and it’s delicious,” she said.
Once you get your bok choy home, it should keep for up to a week but is best used within a few days.
All parts of bok choy are edible. Since the stems are thick and watery, if you’re using large bok choy you may want to separate the stalks and leaves. That would be important in a recipe where you wanted to cook off the liquid from the stalks without overcooking the greens. Otherwise, everything can go into the pot together. Baby bok choy can be cooked whole, halved or quartered and makes an attractive side dish as Barss notes.
No matter what the size, trim off the stem end and be sure to rinse completely to get rid of any dirt that can be lurking between the stalks.
For sale at local farmers markets
Vegetables: artichokes, arugula, Asian greens, beets, broccoli, broccoli raab, Brussels sprouts, carrots, celery, chard, collards, endive, escarole, frisee, green garlic, herbs, Jerusalem artichokes, kale, kohlrabi, leeks, lettuce, mache, mushrooms, mustard greens, Napa cabbage, onions, parsnips, radishes, spinach, spring onions, sweet potatoes, turnips
From local reports
Nick Oltarsh’s Chicken, Bok Choy and Ginger Soup
Hands on: 30 minutes
Total time: 1 hour, 30 minutes
Makes: 12 cups
Chef Nick Oltarsh of ONE midtown kitchen is a fan of all choys — baby Shanghai bok choy, gai choy and choy sum – and suggests any of these will work in this soup. Shaoxing wine is a fermented rice wine available at stores that carry Asian groceries. You can substitute dry sherry if necessary.
1 (3 1/2-pound) chicken, giblets and neck removed
4 cups chicken stock
Water, as needed
1 pound bok choy, ends trimmed
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 cup 1/4-inch diced onion
2 ribs celery, strings removed, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
1 medium knob ginger, peeled and cut into matchsticks (about 2 tablespoons)
2 cloves garlic, sliced very thin
2 teaspoons Shaoxing wine
Salt
Chopped scallion greens, sesame oil and hard-cooked egg
Place chicken in a stockpot and add chicken stock. Add enough water to cover chicken by one inch. Bring liquid to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer chicken one hour or until completely cooked through. Remove chicken from stock and set aside to cool. Strain stock, skim fat and set aside. If it will be more than 30 minutes before you prepare the soup, refrigerate stock.
Remove meat from chicken and discard bones, skin and gristle. Cut meat into bite-size pieces and set meat aside. If it will be more than 30 minutes before you prepare soup, refrigerate meat.
Chop bok choy into 1-inch pieces. Wash thoroughly.
In a large saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and celery and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add ginger and cook 2 minutes. Add garlic and cook 1 minute. Add reserved chicken cooking liquid and bring mixture to a simmer. Add bok choy and cook 1 minute. Add wine and reserved chicken. Taste for seasoning and simmer until chicken is heated through. Serve immediately, garnished with chopped scallions, drops of sesame oil and hard-cooked egg slices. Serve immediately.
Per 1-cup serving: 127 calories (percent of calories from fat, 39), 18 grams protein, 3 grams carbohydrates, 1 gram fiber, 6 grams fat (1 gram saturated), 40 milligrams cholesterol, 95 milligrams sodium.
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