Bok Choy - A Type of Chinese Cabbage: in album produce
| Feb 27th, 2011, by Alex Zorach |
This bok choy was for sale at the Newark, Delaware farmer's market for 49 cents a pound. Boy choy is a specific variety of Chinese cabbage which has a very light, fresh texture. Most of the mass of boy choy is in the stem, making it somewhat celery-like in texture. The stem is crisp, crunchy, and full of water.
Boy choy is a very mild cabbage, and in spite of its robust appearance, it is also a relatively delicate vegetable. It cooks very rapidly, making it a good ingredient when you want to cook a quick stir-fry. When cooking bok choy together with other vegetables, make sure to throw it in towards the end, cooking it for 1-3 minutes at most. I find it is also enjoyable raw, although traditionally, the Chinese generally do not eat raw vegetables.
Bok choy is a very versatile vegetable and is very easy to cook with. The only thing to watch with it is overcooking, but even there, it is not terribly unpleasant when overcooked, just soft and bland.