The marina box garden is filled with fresh leafy greens right now. Arugula, green lettuce, spinach, and my favorite to grow…baby bok choy! I always assumed that baby bok choy was regular bok choy just harvested young, right? But then I saw seed packages labeled “Baby Boy Choy” so that’s what I planted and lo and behold, they really don’t grow up! They start bolting when they are about 6-8″ high. So once again, a sailor is learning something new about gardening.

You can find baby book choy at many specialty grocers. It might be seasonal and hard to find, but it is so so easy to grow. Plant seeds in early spring, just after the last frost (yeah, when exactly is that??) and they can be harvested in a few weeks time.

Sautéed Baby Bok Choy

1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 teaspoons+ rice vinegar
1 teaspoon mirin
1 teaspoon hot pepper sesame oil
2 garlic cloves, pressed
2 teaspoons sesame oil
1 tablespoon water
4 baby bok choy
Togarashi

To make this a meal add:

1 1/2 cups chopped shiitake mushrooms
2 packages Ramen noodles
2 soft boiled eggs
More sesame oil and soy sauce as needed

Be sure to wash them well. Even if they are store bought, there is likely to be dirt between the leaves.

Snip off the roots but leave the bulb in tact. Slice in half right down the middle. Aren’t they beautiful!!

In a small bowl mix the sauce…all the ingredients above except the box choy and the Togarashi. Set aside.

Heat up the sesame oil (or oil of your liking)in a large sauté pan to hot. Lay the box choy, cut side down and sauté for a couple minutes to brown well. Remove to a platter and reduce heat. Add the sauce to the pan along with a little more water. Lay the bok choy back into the pan, cover and cook until tender, about 2-3 minutes.

Remove from the pan and serve.

If you plan to make a full Ramen meal with this, slice shiitake mushrooms. Keep what sauce is left in the pan and add a teaspoon or two of more sesame oil. Sauté the mushrooms until browned and tender. Remove the mushrooms from the pan.

As galley pirates don’t like to use too many pans (we don’t have that many to begin with) heat up four cups of water into the same pan. There will still be some flavors of the sauce left in that pan, so all the better! Once it comes to a boil place two packets of Chinese noodles, aka, Top Ramen into the boiling water. Simmer until tender. Add salt, soy sauce, mirin or hot sesame oil to taste.

So now you will need a separate pan to soft boil two eggs. Place two eggs in a small pan, fill with water and a half teaspoon of backing soda (this apparently helps when peeling the eggs. I haven’t quite decided if that is true or not. I’m notoriously bad a peeling the shells off eggs so I’ve tried everything. Any suggestions??) Once the water comes to a rolling bowl, set a timer for 4 minutes. Depending on the size of you eggs, 4 minutes usually produces a nice soft boiled egg.

Assemble the meal. Ladle a couple scoops of the noodles into large soup bowls. Lay on the sautéed Bok Choy and mushrooms. Carefully slice the eggs in half and lay on top. Sprinkle with Togarashi and serve!

PRINT RECIPE

Sautéed Baby Bok Choy

Serve as a side dish or as a full meal with Chinese Noodles, Shiitake mushrooms, and soft boiled eggs

Servings: 2 people

Author: GalleyPirate

Ingredients

• 4 Baby bok choy
• 1 tbsp Soy sauce
• 2+ tsp Rice vinegar
• 1 tsp Mirin
• 1 tsp Hot chili sesame oil
• 1+ tbsp Water
• Spinkles of Togarashi

As a meal with Chinese noodles

• 1½ cups Shiitake mushrooms, sliced
• 2 pkgs Top Ramen or Chinese noodles
• 2 Eggs
• More soy sauce and sesame oil as needed

Instructions

• Be sure to wash them well. Even if they are store bought, there is likely to be dirt between the leaves.
• Snip off the roots but leave the bulb in tact. Slice in half right down the middle.
• In a small bowl mix the sauce...all the ingredients above except the box choy and the Togarashi. Set aside.
• Heat up the sesame oil (or oil of your liking) in a large sauté pan to hot. Lay the boy choy, cut side down and sauté for a couple minutes to brown well. Remove to a platter and reduce heat. Add the sauce to the pan along with a little more water. Lay the bok choy back into the pan, cover and cook until tender, about 2-3 minutes.
• Remove from the pan and serve as a side.

As a meal with Chinese noodles

• Slice the shiitake mushrooms. Keep what sauce is left in the pan and add a teaspoon or two of more sesame oil. Sauté the mushrooms until browned and tender. Remove the mushrooms from the pan.
• Heat up four cups of water into the same pan. There will still be some flavors of the sauce left in that pan, so all the better! Once it comes to a boil place two packets of Chinese noodles, aka, Top Ramen into the boiling water. Simmer until tender. Add salt, soy sauce, mirin or hot sesame oil to taste.
• Soft boil two eggs. Place two eggs in a small pan, fill with water and a half teaspoon of backing soda. Once the water comes to a rolling bowl, set a timer for 4 minutes. Remove, shock under cold water and peel.
• Assemble the meal. Ladle a couple scoops of the noodles into large soup bowls. Lay on the sautéed Bok Choy and mushrooms. Carefully slice the eggs in half and lay on top. Sprinkle with Togarashi and serve!

Notes