The benefits of pak choi
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What bok choy does
What this vegetable does
Held to ease heat in the body and settle inflammation.
How to eat it
Boil it briefly for a salad or a stir-fry and you get its nourishment easily.
A yakuzen note
It is said to clear heat and settle the balance of the body.
Pak choi is cool in nature and is held to ease excess heat in the body. It is an easy vegetable to bring into meals from spring into summer, when flushing and a hot feeling are on your mind. Used in a stir-fry or a soup, it brings colour to the table.
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When pak choi is in season, the kinds, and how to choose
If you want to bring in what pak choi does, deliciously, knowing the season, the kinds and how to choose makes it easier to use. It is a leaf vegetable of Chinese origin where you get both a crisp, thick stem and tender leaves.
In season in spring and autumn, an easy Chinese vegetable
Pak choi is a brassica that came from China and is now something Chinese cooking cannot do without. Greenhouse growing keeps it in the shops all year, but the open-field season is spring, roughly March to May, and autumn, roughly September to November, and it grows sweeter in the cold. It has little harshness, needs no blanching, and keeps its bright colour and shape when cooked, which makes it easy to use in stir-fries and soups. The main producing areas are Ibaraki, Shizuoka and Aichi, and it is easy to find at a steady price.
Pak choi, baby pak choi and white-stemmed pak choi
Pak choi has relatives differing in size and stem colour, so you can choose by dish.
| kinds | What stands out |
|---|---|
| Pak choi | The standard, with pale green stems. Thick and crisp |
| Baby pak choi | Palm-sized and usable whole. For colour and as a side |
| White-stemmed pak choi | A close relative with white stems. Tender, for simmered dishes and stir-fries |
Easy-to-handle pak choi for everyday stir-fries, whole baby pak choi when you want colour and presentation, white-stemmed pak choi for a tender texture: choose by use. None needs blanching; a quick cook is all it takes.
How to choose it and how to cut it
When choosing good pak choi, these points make it easier to tell.
- Deep green, juicy leaves, taut and upright
- Thick, glossy stems with a plump, rounded base
- A fresh cut at the root, not discoloured
Pak choi's stems take longer to cook than its leaves, which cook at once. Separate stems from leaves, fry or simmer the stems first and add the leaves later, and the texture comes out well. A cross cut in the base makes it cook evenly, which helps when using it whole.
How to eat pak choi
Pak choi works widely, mostly in Chinese cooking, drawing on its crisp stems and tender leaves. Here are the standard ways.
Stir-fried, and in happosai
What brings out the most in pak choi is a quick Chinese stir-fry over high heat. With garlic and ginger and seasoned with oyster sauce or chicken stock, it makes a dish that goes beautifully with rice. Happosai, stir-fried with pork, prawns, squid and quail eggs, is a feast full of colour. Overcooking spoils the texture, so the trick is high heat and speed.
In soups, nibitashi and cream dishes
Added to a Chinese soup or a chicken broth, it gives crispness and colour. Simmered briefly in dashi as nibitashi, or cooked Japanese-style with abura-age, it becomes gentle in taste. Simmered in milk or cream, or steamed whole with a thickened sauce poured over, it brings the savour of pak choi out. It has little harshness, so sliced thinly and added raw to a salad it is clean and easy to eat.
How to keep pak choi
Pak choi does not like drying out, and left alone its leaves wilt easily. Wrap it in damp kitchen paper, put it in a plastic bag and stand it upright in the vegetable drawer of the fridge to hold its freshness. Use it within two or three days. If you cannot use it soon, blanch it on the firm side in salted water, squeeze out the water and freeze it in portions, ready for stir-fries and soups. Blanching briefly before freezing holds the colour and texture better than freezing it raw.
Alongside this, it is worth knowing about The benefits of spinach a leaf vegetable likewise held to cool excess heat, and a fellow brassica, The benefits of daikon radish as a guide when building a seasonal table.
Pak choi, available all year, is a leaf vegetable that works widely, in Chinese stir-fries, happosai, soups, nibitashi and cream dishes. Easy-to-handle pak choi, whole baby pak choi, tender white-stemmed pak choi: using each kind for what it does best brings out what it has. For daily care in the seasons when flushing and a hot feeling are on your mind, bring pak choi to your table.
