Stir Fried Pak Choy

Recipe: Stir Fried Pak Choy
This Stir Fried Pak Choy served with a delicious garlic sauce is good to enjoy on its own. Healthy and crunchy, you can also enjoy it as a side with some stir fried rice/noodles.
Memories
First time I ever tasted pak choy was our local Chinese Restaurant in Mombasa, Galaxy. The pak choy was chopped into large chunks and stir fried with green beans and snow peas. Loved the grassy, slightly bitter taste of it. I am sure they must be getting their supply of pak choy from Nairobi as we don’t get it in the stores.
During a trip to Nairobi, I brought back pak choy and tofu as I had this stir fry recipe in mind that I wanted to try out – Galaxy style. I prepared it and hubby and I enjoyed it thoroughly. Subsequently, made it whenever I would get some pak choy and tofu. Surprisingly, this recipe has not, rather had not found its way to my blog till Seema suggested the theme ‘Greens On My Plate’.
Greens On My Plate
After coming to Canada, I desperately started missing the familiar greens that I had access to in Kenya and India.. fresh fenugreek, fresh amaranth leaves, radish leaves. They only regular greens I get is spinach and bok choy. Slowly I began to see ways of including other greens that are readily available in the market here, like lots of fresh herbs, beet greens, carrot greens, kale, collard, etc. Most of these are restricted to summer time but whenever I get them, I include them in my preparations from dals , stir fries to chutneys. And best way for me include them in my dishes is by adding them to handvo and muthiya recipes.
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Sharing This Recipe With Shhh Cooking Secretly Group
Seema who blogs at Mildly Indian suggested leafy greens for her theme ‘Green On My Plate’. Immediately reminded me of the umpteen times I’ve prepared stir fried pak choy and I’ve not posted the recipe on the blog. Luckily I got the baby pak choy I prefer. Teamed it fresh crunchy snow peas and tofu. As tofu can be filling, I love to have it on its own while hubby needs a bit of rice or noodles on the side. Seema prepared ….for the theme.
My Partners
This group is based on partners who give each two ingredients that they must use in their recipes. Other participants then guess what those two ingredients are. Again I have two partners.
My first partner is Narmadha who blogs at Nams Corner. After discussing with her what I had in mind to prepare, she suggested I use sesame seeds and garlic in my recipe. In return I gave her amaranth and ginger as those are the greens she might have access to. Using those secret ingredients she has prepared delicious, crunchy evening snack Keerai Vadai. Do check out her recipe.
My second partner is Sasmita who blogs at First Timer Cook. As I already have a partner and she doesn’t, as an admin I gave her the secret ingredients mustard oil and garlic. With those she prepared Odia style bhaja or sabji using fresh drumstick leaves. If you want to prepare a healthy Sajana Saga Bhaja, do check out her recipe.
Ingredients Required For Stir Fried Pak Choy
Pak Choy – normal size or baby ones. Best to soak them in water for a while to remove all that soil, bugs from between the leaves. Wash under running water and pat dry with a kitchen towel. Excess water will make the stir fry watery.
Snow Peas – Mange Toute. Use if you get any. Otherwise add any other vegetables of your choice.
Tofu – firm tofu. I like to add tofu as it makes the stir fry filling and it is a way of getting my protein.
Garlic – peeled and finely chopped. Need for the stir fry and the sauce. Adjust according to your taste.
Chilli Sauce – use homemade or ready made.
Oil – use any vegetable oil or mix both vegetable and sesame seed oil. Need some for stir frying and also some hot oil for the garlic sauce.
Vinegar – preferably rice vinegar.
Spring onion – need 2-3. Wash and chop the white part finely for the sauce. Chop the green part to add to the stir fry.
Salt – add according to your taste. I have not added any to the sauce as there is soy sauce which is salty.
Soy Sauce – need some for the sauce. A good substitute for vegans or those on gluten free diet is tamari sauce.
Sugar -need a little to balance the flavours of the sauce. Use either white, brown sugar or can use jaggery powder.
Sesame Seeds – roasted. I have used a mixture of white and black ones. Use any. I roast the sesame seeds in a pan or the microwave oven. Takes about 2 minutes in the microwave oven.
Red Chilli Flakes – as the chilli sauce is not too hot, I add a bit of chilli flakes. This ingredient is optional.




STIR FRIED PAK CHOY
Ingredients
FOR THE STIR FRY
- 200-250 g pak choy
- 100 g snow peas
- 2 tbsp oil
- 4 cloves garlic peeled and finely chopped
- 100 g tofu
- salt
FOR THE GARLIC SAUCE
- 4 tbsp hot oil
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1-2 tbsp chilli sauce
- 1 tbsp roasted sesame seeds
- 1 tsp brown sugar
- 3 tbsp white part spring onion finely chopped
- 6 cloves garlic
- ¼ tsp red chilli flakes
Instructions
PREPARATION OF THE VEGETABLES
- Soak the pak choy in cold water for 15-20 minutes to remove any soil that might be in between the leaves.
- Take it out of the water. Wash thoroughly under running water.
- Trim the woody hard part of the stem. Cut the pak choy into halves lengthwise.
- I did that as the pak choy are small and tender. You can opt to chop a normal pak choy into larger chunks.
- Place them on a kitchen towel to dry.
- Trim the ends of the snow peas. Cut them into half and wash them.
- Cut the tofu into bite size cubes.
- Peel and chop 4 cloves of garlic.
- Also peel and chop finely the 6 cloves of garlic for the sauce.
- Chop the white part of spring onion finely, for the sauce.
- Chop the remaining green part to add to the stir fry.
PREPARATION OF THE GARLIC SAUCE
- Take a small mixing bowl.
- Add chopped garlic, white spring onion, red chilli flakes, brown sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, chilli sauce and sesame seeds.
- Mix it well.
- Heat 4 tbsp of oil till it becomes hot.
- Add to the sauce ingredients and mix well.
- Keep the sauce on the side till required.
PREPARATION OF THE STIR FRY
- Heat oil in a wide pan over medium heat.
- Add garlic and stir fry it till it begins to soften a bit.
- Immediately add the chopped pak choy, cut side on the pan surface.
- Sprinkle the salt over it.
- Allow the pak choy to cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Add in the tofu and snow peas on the side.
- Allow it to cook for further for 2-3 minutes.
- Turn the pak choy, tofu and snow peas over.
- Cook for a further 2-3 minutes.
- The tofu will soak up that flavourful liquid that oozes out of the pak choy.
- Stir fried pak choy is ready to be served.
TO SERVE
- Divide the stir fried mixture between two plates.
- Drizzle the garlic sauce over it and enjoy.
- Enjoy it on its own or with some stir fried rice or noodles.
Notes
- Add chopped cashew nuts if you like.
- Add other vegetables of your choice to the stir fry. I sometimes add bell pepper chunks, whole mushrooms, bean sprouts, etc
- I prefer to use baby pak choy as it is tender and cooks faster. If you use the bigger version then you may need to cook it on its own for 2-3 minutes before adding other vegetables.
- Serve it with any sauce of your choice.
- Best to stir fry just before eating. That way vegetables remain crunchy and are not over cooked.
Pin For Later

A Little Request:
If you do try this recipe then please either
- add a comment below,
- send a picture to my email mayuri.ajay.patel62@gmail.com
- tag me as #mayuri_jikoni on Instagram
- or tag me on Twitter as #Mayuri1962
19 Comments
Keerai Vadai Recipe | Vadai with Greens – nams corner
September 4, 2023 at 3:20 pm
[…] plate suggested by Seema. she made the delicious for the theme. I was paired with Mayuri who made Stir Fried Pak Choy using the secret ingredients sesame seeds and garlic. I made this crunchy keerai vadai using the […]
Priya Iyer
September 11, 2023 at 11:23 pm
Love this flavour-filled stir-fried pok choy! The addition of tofu makes it all the more nutritious and delicious. Would definitely like to try out your recipe soon.
mayurisjikoni
September 13, 2023 at 2:02 pm
Thank you so much Priya. Enjoy when you try the recipe out.
Archana
September 13, 2023 at 3:50 am
I loved the different ways in which this yummy Bok Choy can be cooked. This stir-fry recipe is different from what I make and now I am going to try making mine with tofu. Thanks.
mayurisjikoni
September 13, 2023 at 2:01 pm
Thanks Archana, with tofu it makes it filling.
Seema Sriram
September 14, 2023 at 4:10 am
This is so delicious. I loved the way you have made the garlic sauce, that will taste brilliant with the tofu and pakchoy.
mayurisjikoni
September 27, 2023 at 9:35 pm
Thanks Seema. An easy and quick recipe.
Renu
September 18, 2023 at 12:00 pm
Yeah sadly that is the difference between countries, but we need to adapt to it. We have slowly switched over to all the local varieties here and I hardly bring our Indian veggies as they are not fresh too at times. I like your way of Bok choy, and with added tofu, it becomes a complete meal.
mayurisjikoni
September 27, 2023 at 9:34 pm
Thanks Renu. It sure does become a complete meal and what I like is how quickly it all comes together. Yes, slowly adapting to all the local veggies and using them. As you rightly mentioned, sometimes the Indian veggies are not that fresh.
Priya Vj
September 21, 2023 at 5:58 am
Stire fried bok choy with tofu in chilli garlic sauce will definitely please my hubby and he will be super elated if served with some spicy fried rice in schezwan sauce . He loves to have tofu and Asian greens.
mayurisjikoni
September 27, 2023 at 9:31 pm
Thanks Priya. Stir fried bok choy sounds good with fried rice.
Narmadha T
September 22, 2023 at 11:50 am
Stir-fried pak choy looks too tempting and delicious. It is loaded with a lot of flavors and would love to have it as a meal.
mayurisjikoni
September 27, 2023 at 9:28 pm
Thanks Narmadha. It is a delicious and healthy meal so do try it.
Vasusvegkitchen
September 22, 2023 at 4:36 pm
Stir fried Pak choy looks very tempting, my eyes are on tofu. Wish will taste Pak choy once here. I also loved your palak paneer kachoris di😋
mayurisjikoni
September 27, 2023 at 9:28 pm
Thank you so much Aruna. Pak choy is now quite easily available in India. Do try it out. You may like it. My kids loved palak paneer kachoris.
Sasmita
September 23, 2023 at 11:18 pm
Stir-fry pak choy with tofu seems absolutely fantastic !!! sesame seeds and garlic must add a flavorful touch. I would definitely like to try this!
mayurisjikoni
September 27, 2023 at 9:26 pm
Thanks Sasmita. It is a delicious meal, try it.
Jayashree T Rao
October 1, 2023 at 7:30 am
Sir fry with Pak Choy and noodles makes a good meal for me. I wish I can lay my hands on these greens, like how versatile it is to use.
mayurisjikoni
October 1, 2023 at 11:22 am
Thanks Jayashree, when I didn’t get pak choy easily in Mombasa I use to use Chinese Cabbage. I think that is easily available in India. Tastes equally good.