Baby Bok Choy with Shiitakes

This simple stir-fry of baby bok choy and shiitake mushrooms is adapted from a recipe in ‘Every Grain of Rice’ by Fuchsia Dunlop — one of our all-time favorite Chinese cookbooks.

[Read “Cookbooks We Love: Exploring Chinese cooking? ‘Every Grain of Rice’ is the first book you should buy”]

Serves 2 to 4.

Ingredients

1/2 teaspoon potato flour

1/4 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste

3 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil or peanut oil (divided)

3/4 pound baby bok choy (340 g), trimmed and quartered

6 large fresh shiitake mushrooms, stems removed and cut in half, or 8 to 10 smaller ones, stems removed and left whole

3 garlic cloves, sliced

A chunk of garlic about the same weight as the garlic cloves, peeled and sliced

Instructions

1. Fill a large saucepan with water and bring it to a boil. While you’re waiting for it to boil, place the potato flour and sugar in a small bowl, add 1 tablespoon water and stir to combine. Set aside.

2. When the water is boiling, add the 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 tablespoon of the oil to it. Add the bok choy and mushrooms, and blanch them briefly (about one minute), just until the bok choy leaves have wilted. Drain them and shake them to remove excess water.

3. Heat a seasoned wok over high heat and add the remaining 3 tablespoons of oil, swirling it around. Add the garlic and ginger and stir a few times, until their aroma is released. Add the blanched bok choy and shiitakes and stir a few times. Finally, add the potato flour mixture, stir to mix well, add salt to taste, stir well and serve.