Bunches of bok choy blanched in vegetable broth are arranged on a plate, stir fried shiitake are added, and a sauce made with garlic, oyster sauce, rice wine and sesame seed oil are drizzled over them.
Cook’s notes
There are countless Chinese recipes for bok choy and mushrooms. There are stir fries and soups while others simply require blanching. Some include oyster sauce among the ingredients; others do not.
My recipe is a combination of two cooking processes. The bok choy was blanched in boiling vegetable broth while thick slices of shiitake were stir fried.
Fresh vs. dried shiitake
I used fresh for this dish. You may, of course, use rehydrated dried shiitake. The downside is that rehydrating will take time. The upside is that the soaking water is so flavorful that you may add it to the vegetable broth in which to blanch the bok choy.It’s meatless but it’s not vegan
If you want to transform it into a vegan dish, ditch the oyster sauce and use vegetarian oyster sauce (available in Asian groceries) which is made with oyster mushrooms rather than real oysters.Is it a main dish or a side dish?
You decide. The mushrooms are filling, I tell you. But because we like meat in our meal, I served the bok choy and shiitake as a side dish, and meat and vegetable soup as the main course.Bok choy and shiitake in oyster sauce
Ingredients
- 8 to 12 bunches bok choy
- 8 to 10 fresh shiitake mushrooms
- 3 cups vegetable broth
- 2 tablespoons cooking oil
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- 1 splash rice wine
- 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
- 1 drizzle sesame seed oil
- toasted sesame seeds to garnish
Instructions
- Rinse the bok choy. If they are rather large, split lengthwise vertically.
- Remove and discard the mushroom stems. Cut the caps into thick slices.
- In a shallow pan, bring the vegetable broth to a boil.
- Add the bok choy and cook over high heat for two to three minutes. The actual cooking time depends on the size of your bok choy. You want to cook them just until the leaves wilt.
- Scoop out, allow excess liquid to drip off drip then arrange on a serving plate.
- In a wok or frying pan, heat the oil.
- Add the garlic and mushrooms. Sprinkle in the salt, pepper and sugar. Stir fry the mushrooms and garlic for about half a minute.
- Pour in the rice wine and two tablespoons of the vegetable broth in which the bok choy was cooked. Cook for two minutes.
- Scoop out the mushrooms and pile on top of the bok choy.
- To the remaining liquid in the wok or frying pan, add the oyster sauce. Heat until simmering. If too thick, add another tablespoon of broth. Turn off the heat.
- Drizzle in a little sesame seed oil and stir.
- Spoon the sauce over the mushrooms and bok choy. Garnish with sesame seeds.
- Serve the bok choy and shiitake in oyster sauce as a side dish or as a meatless main dish.
Pork bone and radish soup