![Crispy Rice With Shrimp, Bacon and Corn](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2020/06/21/dining/ko-crispy-rice-shrimp/ko-crispy-rice-shrimp-mediumThreeByTwo440.jpg?width=1280&quality=75&auto=webp)
Smoky Stir-Fried Greens
![Smoky Stir-Fried Greens](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2020/09/04/dining/04kenji8/04kenji8-articleLarge.jpg?width=1280&quality=75&auto=webp)
- Total Time
- 15 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
- Kosher salt
- 12ounces baby bok choy, choy sum or gai lan (Chinese broccoli), cut into 2-inch segments
- Ice (optional)
- ½teaspoon granulated sugar
- ½teaspoon cornstarch
- ¼teaspoon ground white pepper
- Rice bran, peanut, canola or other neutral, high-temperature frying oil
- 3garlic cloves, minced
Preparation
- Step 1
Combine about 2 quarts water and 1 tablespoon kosher salt in a saucepan or wok and bring to a boil over high heat. Add vegetables and cook, stirring, until bright green and crisp-tender, about 20 seconds. Immediately drain vegetables and transfer them to an ice bath, or run under cool water until chilled. Spin vegetables dry in a salad spinner, or pat dry on a paper towel-lined sheet tray.
- Step 2
Combine sugar, cornstarch, white pepper, ½ teaspoon salt and 2 tablespoons water in a small bowl. Stir with a spoon until homogenous, then set aside, leaving the spoon in the bowl.
- Step 3
Using a paper towel, rub a very thin film of oil into a wok or large skillet, then set over high heat until lightly smoking. Add 1 tablespoon oil and swirl to coat. Add garlic and stir-fry until fragrant but not browned, about 10 seconds.
- Step 4
Immediately add vegetables and stir-fry for 30 seconds. Working quickly, ignite your blowtorch and, holding the flame 2 to 3 inches above the vegetables, sweep across the surface while shaking the pan, until a smoky aroma reaches your nose, about 15 seconds. (You should hear a distinct crackle and see small bursts of orange flame as the oil on the vegetables jumps and combusts.)
- Step 5
Still working quickly, stir-fry for another 30 seconds, and torch for another 15 seconds. Stir the sauce to loosen and to distribute the cornstarch that has settled at the bottom of the bowl, then pour it into the wok and stir-fry until the vegetables are coated in a glossy glaze, about 15 seconds. Transfer to a bowl and serve immediately.
Private Notes
Cooking Notes
Actually, salt makes a couple of appearances in this recipe. With the water when boiling the veggies, and then again in the glaze/sauce (an amount equal to the sugar). I did a version of this sans a blowtorch (don't own one). With skepticism about the sauce (how can just sugar salt cornstarch slurry do it? But I went with it). Added oyster mushrooms to the greens and tossed the veggies with handcut Korean wheat noodles cooked up and tossed lightly with sesame oil. It. Was. Phenomenal.
Hi Kenji, I also watched the video for this and I’m surprised there’s no salt or soy sauce in this. Is that intentional? The sweetness balances the spice of dishes like maps tofu great, but still seems like it needs a pinch of salt or a teaspoon of soy?
If, like me, you find the torching-while-stir-frying technique intimidating and/or seeming to require three hands, the workaround in the article is here: "To simplify things, I’ve found that transferring the stir-fried food to a rimmed baking sheet, spreading it in a single layer, and giving it a few leisurely passes." Perhaps placing the pan as close to a broiler as possible would work as well.
Made as directed, just fantastic. Next time I will dry the bok choy with paper towels, the salad spinner didn't get the greens quite dry enough, but still came out great.
What am I missing? There are so many steps, all of them seconds long, in this recipe that there is no time to keep checking it. Therefore, anyone who hasn't got it memorized will not be able to cook it. In the calmest of circumstances, it might be possible to pull it off, but certainly it's doomed on Thanksgiving Day. I'm picturing all the guests buzzing around the kitchen trying to be helpful. Some of them might not survive very long.
These greens have changed my life. I don’t want bok choy any other way now. That smokiness really adds a punch. I will definitely make this recipe again.
This was a little disappointing. We often make bok choy with ginger and garlic prepared in the method used here, but the addition of the corn starch slurry made it quite flavorless, and frankly a little slimy. The blow torch was pretty fun, and we will add to our kitchen tools!
The Best Bok Choy Recipe Ever we've made for years was demoted. We prefer cooked veggies not crisp. In the salted water I boiled the thick stems 1', added the stem/green segments 30" & the greens 15" & quenched in ice water. Salad spinner wasn't enough-I paper-toweled extra water off. Used a cast-iron skillet for rest of recipe. Don't have a blowtorch, so broiled 4' on high 6" from heat. Smokiness from hot oil was lovely. Would be more intense if torched. We need a blowtorch for Fathers' Day
Using tongs, hold clumps of baby bok choy by the base of leaves, plunge only the crunchy stems into boiling water for 15 seconds, take out and plunge stems in icy water. Keeps better consistent texture and nutrients.
What is meant by "2 inch" pieces of bok choi? Is that 2" squares, or strips lengthwise?
I don't have a blowtorch and don't want one more thing in my kitchen. I got a decently smoky flavor by using a little less oil and turning up the flame very high on my gas range so that my wok got REALLY hot. I then stir-fried until the vegetables were singed, which was probably easier for me to see on the veggies I had on hand: green cabbage (which I did parboil for 20 seconds). The result was very good. Served it with the glazed tofu https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1022167
Mmmm. Good excuse to use the blowtorch! Easy lunch with an egg on top.
Brilliant. I've been trying to replicate this slightly watery / garlic / charred flavour for literally years. A drizzle of oyster sauce and it's exactly what they serve (or used to serve!) at Marigold in Sydney.
Salt does make a couple of appearances but only in the directions, and not in the list of ingredients. I feel this should be corrected.
What am I missing? There are so many steps, all of them seconds long, in this recipe that there is no time to keep checking it. Therefore, anyone who hasn't got it memorized will not be able to cook it. In the calmest of circumstances, it might be possible to pull it off, but certainly it's doomed on Thanksgiving Day. I'm picturing all the guests buzzing around the kitchen trying to be helpful. Some of them might not survive very long.
Thank you Kenji! I now have a vast number of wok recipes I can replicate on my induction stove cook top using my butane culinary torch.
If, like me, you find the torching-while-stir-frying technique intimidating and/or seeming to require three hands, the workaround in the article is here: "To simplify things, I’ve found that transferring the stir-fried food to a rimmed baking sheet, spreading it in a single layer, and giving it a few leisurely passes." Perhaps placing the pan as close to a broiler as possible would work as well.
Made as directed, just fantastic. Next time I will dry the bok choy with paper towels, the salad spinner didn't get the greens quite dry enough, but still came out great.
These greens have changed my life. I don’t want bok choy any other way now. That smokiness really adds a punch. I will definitely make this recipe again.
This was a little disappointing. We often make bok choy with ginger and garlic prepared in the method used here, but the addition of the corn starch slurry made it quite flavorless, and frankly a little slimy. The blow torch was pretty fun, and we will add to our kitchen tools!
Actually, salt makes a couple of appearances in this recipe. With the water when boiling the veggies, and then again in the glaze/sauce (an amount equal to the sugar). I did a version of this sans a blowtorch (don't own one). With skepticism about the sauce (how can just sugar salt cornstarch slurry do it? But I went with it). Added oyster mushrooms to the greens and tossed the veggies with handcut Korean wheat noodles cooked up and tossed lightly with sesame oil. It. Was. Phenomenal.
I LOVE the idea of this, and am looking for an alternative to the blowtorch. Any ideas? Or is this simple recipe gonna be my excuse to buy one? ;-)
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