I remember first encountering bok choy years ago on a trip to China. Whether we were in Bejing or in The Stone Forest, bok choy was on our plates. It’s a staple in the Asian kitchen. Today, back in the United States, bok choy is everywhere from your local bodega to the local Costco.
If you haven’t tried it, you are in for a real treat. Bok choy is a type of Chinese cabbage. It’s flavor is sometimes described as spinach-like. Believed to have originated as early as the 5th Century AD, bok choy is believed to be related to cabbage, broccoli and kale. It is low calorie but rich in vitamins and minerals. It’s versatile, too; you’ll find it widely used in stir fries, soups, salads. It can be boiled, steamed and stir-fried.
This is a delicious soup recipe featuring bok choy in a star anise-flavored broth.
This recipe is from Hetty McKinnon’s cookbook Tenderheart. You can order the book through your local bookstore or find it on Amazon here.
McKinnon, a James Beard Foundation finalist, is the author of a number of cookbooks including To Asia, With Love and Family: New Vegetarian Comfort Food. Brooklyn-based, you can find her work in The New York Times, Bon Appetit and The Guardian.
Here is the recipe as I prepared it in my kitchen.
Baby Bok Choy Soup and Rice Vermicelli
Ingredients
- For the soup:
- 1 T. toasted sesame oil
- 1-inch piece of fresh ginger (peeled and grated)
- 1 garlic clove (grated)
- 2 star anise pods
- 5 1/2 C. vegetable stock
- 2 t. soy sauce
- Sea salt
- 9 oz. rice vermicelli (soaked in warm water for 10 minutes)
- 14 oz. baby bok choy (cut lengthwise to a small size to fit your soup bowls)
- For the green onion oil:
- 4 green onions (finely sliced)
- 1 jalapeno (finely chopped)
- 1 t. sea salt
- 1/2 C. neutral oil (I used canola)
Directions
- Step 1 To make the onion oil, add green onions, jalapeno and sea salt to a healtproof bowl. Set aside until your oil heats.
- Step 2 Heat oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Heat until the oil sizzles. (McKinnon suggests using a wooden chopstick to test the sizzle in the oil.)When the oil is sizzling, carefully pour the hot oil over the green onion mixture in the HEATPROOF bowl. (The onions and oil will splutter when combined, so you need to be careful during this step.) Set the oil aside to cool.
- Step 3 To make the broth, heat the sesame oil in a large saucepan. Add ginger, garlic and star anise to the hot oil. Saute for about 15 seconds. Stir in the broth and bring the mixture to a boil. Add soy sauce to the broth mixture. Add sea salt to your “salty” taste. Set aside. I overnighted the broth in my refrigerator to develop the flavor.) Strain.
- Step 4 To compose the soup, reheat the broth. Add the soaked vermicelli and the baby bok choy and cook for 2-3 minutes until the bok choy is tender and the noodles are tender. When properly prepared, the baby bok choy will have turned a pretty bright green.
- Step 5 Using tongs, remove the bok choy and the noodles from the broth and arrange artfully in your individual soup bowls. Pour hot broth over the bok choy and noodles. Serve soup with the green onion oil. (Cook’s Note: I enjoyed my soup with a medium amount of the sliced green onions garnishing the top of the soup but with the oil completely stirred into the soup. Otherwise, I didn’t enjoy the oily mouth feel.I also enjoyed this soup with a generous dusting of white pepper.)
