what will you need
All you need are six ingredients, all of which you can find at any grocery store. No Asian specialty stores are required here.
Bok choy — Bok choi is a type of Chinese cabbage and is sometimes referred to as pak choi, pak choi, pok choi, and pok choi in Asian grocery stores. The ones I use are from Costco and are labeled Shanghai/Baby Bok Choy. Pak choi has either light green or white stems and dark green leaf tops.
You can enjoy pak choi either raw, for example in a salad, or cooked in a pan or soup. When cooked, it has a mild, slightly sweet taste and a crunchy texture. The leaf has a similar flavor and texture to spinach and the stalk has a similar flavor and texture to cabbage. There are many varieties of bok choy and they all look and taste similar, so I use them interchangeably depending on what’s available.
neutral oil — This recipe uses vegetable oil for frying. You can also use other unflavored oils like canola oil, peanut oil, corn oil, and sunflower oil. These oils can withstand high heat, making them perfect for frying in Asian cuisine.
onions — Onions add flavor and a natural sweetness to the dish after cooking. In this recipe I use a small yellow onion. Peel and cut into wedges, then sauté in oil to bring out its flavor and sweetness before adding the pak choi. You can also substitute garlic for the onions or use a combination of onions and garlic.
oyster sauce — Oyster sauce is the “salt” and our main flavor in this recipe. Oyster sauce is a thick, dark sauce made from oyster extracts, soy sauce, sugar, and salt. It has a sweet and savory flavor and is commonly used in Chinese and Southeast Asian cuisines.
There are many brands of oyster sauce. Some are saltier than others. My favorite is Lee Kum Kee Premium Oyster Sauce. It’s slightly more expensive than the more well-known Panda brand, but it’s not as salty and has a more rounded umami flavor. To make it vegetarian, use mushroom or vegetarian oyster sauce instead.
Water — Water is needed to dilute the oyster sauce. You can also use any type of broth to add flavor to the dish, e.g. B. chicken, beef, vegetable and even bone broth.
tapioca starch — This starch is used as a thickener and turns the sauce into a gravy. It is made from the cassava plant and has a neutral taste. Tapioca starch is the thickener of choice in many Asian homes.