Hello! Friends and audience!
Thank you so much for watching our…
Oops!
♪Laughter♪
Maybe we should give him a bok choy to hold
What's up everyone?
Today we're making
Stir-fried bok choy with garlic
My name is Randy
And we are the Laus
We're on a mission to celebrate
And pass down our Chinese heritage
One meal at a time
After 50 amazing years as a Chinese chef
My dad's finally retired
And he's here to teach you all of his secrets
To make the perfect stir-fried bok choy
A dish he's made thousands of times
Hello, my friends! I hope you’re doing well!
Today, we're going to teach you stir-fried bok choy with garlic
It's a really easy dish to prepare
This is part 2 of super simple bok choy recipes
That my parents make multiple times a week
I basically grew up on stir-fried bok choy
As well as bok choy soup, which we shared in last week's video
Before we dive into the recipe, one of the keys
To perfecting cooking with bok choy is to maximize its freshness
Especially if you buy 5 or 6 pounds at once like my parents do
If you watched this section already last week, feel free to skip it
But I felt like it was really important to include again
And as they say, repetition is the mother of skill!
Is there a way to extend the life of it?
Wrap it with paper before storing it in a plastic bag
With this, you can store it in the fridge for a week
What's the purpose of the paper towel?
To absorb the water
So you want to make it as dry as possible?
Dry, with some small holes
Oh, so there are holes in the plastic
The most important thing is to make sure the veggies are dry
Okay, so you'll set them out to dry after buying?
It's better that way
For bok choy, sometimes we'll buy 5-6 pounds for a week
Daddy will peel the outer layer of each bok choy after buying
It's around 3-4 leaves of each bok choy
He'll leave the center part untouched
I'll pick the older leaves to cook first
He'll peel the 1, 2, 3 (leaves) and cook them that day
Oh, cook the outer layer first！
Yeah
Cook the outer layer (older leaves) first after buying
-Oh! -Yeah!
Cook the outer layer first, for all the bok choy
Let's say you have 10 pieces of bok choy, peel the outer layer of each
Save the middle part, wrap it with paper
And poke some holes in the bag so it'll last longer
This is so smart!
But the outer layer is good for soup
Because it has more fiber content
It'll be tougher than the middle part of the bok choy
Okay, cause this one, it's gonna get so soft
It's nice in the soup
Whereas the center ones are smaller pieces, easier for stir-fries
The center is good for stir-fries, the outer layer is good for soup
Okay, very good
And now, back to the recipe!
First, we'll clean the bok choy
Everyone look here
We'll pick the boy choy out one by one
Then, soak them in the water
Today, we'll also be using around 1 lb of bok choy
We don't need the stem, cut it off
After we're done picking the leaves, we'll rinse the bok choy
To make sure the dirt's all washed off
While washing, rub the stalk like this
To wash off the dirt
If you have time, it's better to soak the vegetables
For around 20 minutes first before washing
Usually, this is where the dirt is
After we finish rubbing the stalks
We'll rinse them again with water
Making sure the dirt is cleaned off
For example, for parts that look like this
Hold it from the bottom and dunk it in the water
Hold the stalk and wash it
Okay, we finished washing the veggies
Use a colander to drain the water
There's a lot of water on the veggies
Set them on a towel to absorb the water
So that when we stir-fry them, the dish won't be too wet
It's easy
For stir-fries, it has to be dried first?
It's better if it's dry
But it's also okay if you don't dry it before stir-frying
Usually for home cooking, I won't dry it before stir-frying
Got it?
Now, we'll start to cut the bok choy
For smaller leaves, just leave them as it is
For these, cut them in half
Just leave this one as it is
This one (a bigger leaf), just cut this in half
Is it okay if you don't cut it in half?
It's fine, it doesn't matter if you don't cut it in half
But they will cook faster if you cut them
If they need to be cooked longer, will they become less crispy?
For stir-fry bok choy, it's not about the crispness
But whether the bok choy is still green after cooking
Usually, the way I do is to cook the stalks first
I'll add the leaves last
That's the way I stir-fry vegetables
These stalks are cooked first
That'll do
Since we're not cooking a huge amount, it doesn't matter too much
Next, we'll mince 2-3 cloves of garlic
Then, we'll set our stove on high heat
And heat our wok for about 2-3 minutes
Add 2 tbsp of corn oil, and let that heat up
Until the oil starts shimmering or forming ripples across the surface
We have all of these ingredients listed on our blog at madewithlau.com
Along with step-by-step instructions and video clips
To guide you as you make the recipe at home
Now, we'll start to stir-fry our bok choy
First, we'll add the minced garlic to the pan
Sauté them. Wow! So fragrant!
Let the garlic cook for about 15-20 seconds before adding bok choy
After cooking the garlic, we'll start adding the bok choy
We'll add the stalks first
Next, we'll add the leaves
We'll stir-fry it slowly
Do we stir-fry it in high heat?
Yeah, use high heat to stir-fry
In total, we'll be cooking the bok choy for about 6-8 minutes
Until the leaves and stalks soften up
I also wanted to make a special shoutout to thank all of our
Wonderful Patreon supporters to help bring this video to life.
If you enjoy our videos and are interested in supporting us directly,
Head on over to patreon.com/madewithlau to learn more!
When stir-frying, we'll have to look at it once in a while
For ones like this, for sure it’s not done yet, right?
Cook until its color is changed
Just like this, its color has changed, right?
You can use a lid to cover when stir-frying
Or you can choose not to
But if you cook in a big amount, you must cover with a lid
There's no need to cover when cooking a small amount like 1 lb
It'll cook faster when you cover it with a lid
Can you hear the "bak bak" sound?
It was originally hard, wasn't it?
You just have to cook until the vegetables soften
It's almost done now
Okay, the dish is almost done
Now, we'll add salt to it
When stir-frying, it's best to not add salt at the beginning
We'll add salt when it's almost done
If you add salt at the beginning
The water content from the veggies will leak out
See? It's cooked now
The dish looks beautiful
You can call Kat to come down, it's ready to be served
For additional flavor, we'll be adding 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar, and 1/2 tsp chicken bouillon
You can also optionally add a dash of olive oil
To give the bok choy more of a glossy look
We've finished stir-frying the bok choy
Here's 1 pound of bok choy
Okay, this stir-fry bok choy is ready to serve
Let's eat!
When did you get to be such a big boy?
Okay!
Have some soup
Oh yeah
Hey, Hong Doy
Thank you!
Okay, let's eat!
Have some soup!
Bok choy soup!
Cheers!
Hmm, so good!
So soothing!
So good!
I'm so glad we did this recipe
It's good?
The pork is really nice and tender
Yeah
Does it taste good after putting it into the soup?
Yeah, it's like perfect if I was sick
Or just like in the morning. Ooh, so soothing!
The easiest dish for Chinese recipes
Really really easy
You said you started making it when you were 10 for your family?
Maybe around 10-12, that age, I already knew how to do it
Sometimes when my mother was busy when I was young
My mother had 5 children, I'm the oldest
And I was always helping her
For people my age, bok choy soup and stir-fry bok choy…
Common knowledge for them, huh?
Really really common
♪Laughter♪
It's the number 1 common
This is like boiling water
Yeah, it's like making rice
♪Laughter♪
Which one do you like better? You can pick one
Pick one? Pick one would be stir-fry bok choy
I prefer stir-fried bok choy
The same as me (laugh)
Wow!
You?
I like the soup
You like the soup?
I love the soup
I think a slight edge to the soup for me
Really? That's why we're married and that's why you guys are married
That's a test if you like bok choy the same way
Then you can get married
So me and daddy like stir-fry and you and Randy like the soup
That’s what we asked on our first date
♪Laughter♪
Put it on a dating app, Chinese dating app
Bok choy have 2…
Actually, there are different kinds of bok choy
Uh-huh
Oh yeah, that's our first question
A lot of people wanna know
One of the types is big bok choy (napa cabbage)
Yeah, the big one
Like how big?
Like it's at least one feet long
That's big, right, Hong Doy?
Wow!
The whole bok choy is around this big (gesture)
But we don't usually use that kind of bok choy for stir-fries
We only use it for soup
Also, when you go to the Chinese market
You can only find small bok choy/baby bok choy
But in an American grocery store, they only sell big bok choy
Big bok choy is suitable for this kind of soup
But it won't taste good when stir-fried
The texture won't be good, too much chewing and rich in fiber
Yeah
A lot of fiber inside
In Cantonese, it's called "small bok choy"
Also known as baby bok choy
Some of the bok choy are even smaller than this one
What about choy sum and…?
Choy sum can be used to make the soup too
There are many different kinds of bok choy
The one we've used here is small bok choy
There's also baby bok choy and Shanghai bok choy
Cantonese people love this kind of cabbage
Is the word "bok" in bok choy the same as the word white?
Yeah, it's the same word
The word "Bok" means white
Bok choy literally means white vegetable
Even in Mandarin, it's called “白菜”
They’re all called bok choy
But right now, we seldom cook big bok choy
The small one definitely tastes better
So we had a lot of people wanting to know
When you're buying it, what do you look for?
These are good bok choy because they are fresh
It's good if the insides still haven't changed color
This bok choy tastes good, the center will be delicious too
If it blooms, it's old, isn't it?
Yeah, the ones with flowers are considered old
But these ones here are not old
The leaves of these bok choy are thick and plump
So these are good bok choy
If you were to look at it, what are some signs where you'd say
Oh! That's not good
It's good if the color is green, but not if it's yellow
Don't pick those with yellow leaves or that are too old
Make sure the leaves and stalks have no wrinkles on them,
If it's wrinkled, it means that it's already losing water
So I won't buy those bok choy
I want to buy bok choy that are short and fat
It's good to choose bok choy that are short, right?
Yeah, that's good
Isn't this the kind of bok choy you're talking about?
Yeah, they called it "short-legged bok choy"
Short-legged bok choy, cute (laugh)
That was actually another big question
Is a lot of people are making bok choy that is too bitter
Does that mean it's too old?
If it's bitter, that means it's been set out for too long
If the stalk turns black, then it'll be bitter
Sometimes you don't see the black, but it'll still taste bad
Then, I'll just throw it away
When I eat it, if it's bitter then I won't swallow it
Since bok choy is so cheap, I just throw them away
When you're stir-frying it, where do people make mistakes?
If the wok is not heated enough, it'll be very hard to cook the dish well
The wok needs to be heated to a very high temperature for stir-frying
Just like how a restaurant does, cooked really quickly and it’s tasty
For home cooking, the stoves we’re using aren’t powerful enough
You know?
For home-cooking, what we cooked here is already considered quite good
Understand?
How long does it take for a restaurant to cook this?
It's pretty quick in a restaurant
The woks that a restaurant use are really hot
2-3 minutes is enough
For some people, they just cut it in half to cook
That's how restaurants do this
They won't do it like us, picking off the leaves one by one
All they do is just cut them in half or a quarter
That's why they blanch it in boiling water
Because it's hard to cook them by purely stir-frying
Oh
So for bigger ones, cut into halves or quarters. For smaller ones, cut in half.
Then just stack them together and set them there
For today’s recipe, if you cut it like this, is it...?
It'll be very hard to stir-fry them for home cooking
Unless you stir-fry with a lid on
You can't do it with no lid as we did
If you cut it like the restaurant, then you must stir-fry with a lid on
Only then can it be evenly cooked, understand?
If it's not fully cooked, it'll taste spicy
Spicy?
You'll feel spicy
Really?
It'll be spicy if it's not fully cooked
Uh-huh, it's not really like a chili kind of spiciness
But you can feel the spiciness there
Like these here, I don't need to cover the wok when stir-frying
I picked the leaves off one by one and cooked them
So I don't need to cook with a lid on
But for these, since it's such a big size, it's very hard to cook them
He's saying…
You must put the lid on to cook them thoroughly
The texture will be different, son
For these, they are still crisp and tasty after stir-fried
Watch me
But if you cook them with the lid on, then it'll be soft like these
Oh
If you don't stir-fry with a lid then it'll be crunchy like these
Interesting
Eaten and prepared differently
It's better to cook it like me for home cooking
This way is better for stir-fry and easier to cook
Whereas if you cook it like how a restaurant does, it'll be hard to cook
Somebody... maybe they do this all the time
They've done it with garlic a lot
If they want to change it up
What's a simple way to make it a different way?
For stir-fry bok choy (laugh)
He said if you don't like garlic, just use ginger
Just use ginger
♪Laughter♪
It's also okay if you don't add anything
There's a lot of people who don't add garlic for stir-fry, son
It's called "clear" stir-fried bok choy
Oh, with just the bok choy?
Just stir-fry the bok choy with oil and salt
It's fine without the garlic
It's called “clear” stir-fried bok choy
Okay, Cam Cam
Thank you
Thank you Mommy Lau, thank you Daddy Lau
Hello, friends and audience!
Thanks for watching our…
Oops
♪Laughter♪
Maybe we should give him a bok choy to hold
Thank you so much for your support!