How to cook Chinese cabbage: ideal recipes and cooking methods

Chinese cabbage is a vegetable of the genus Brassica, such as broccoli, cauliflower, turnips, or cabbage. It is native to China but its cultivation and consumption have spread throughout the world. Here we call it “Chinese cabbage”, in Japan – hakusai; in Korea, baechu; in China “dàbáicài” or siu choy; in Australia, wombok; in the Philippines, petsay; in Russia, pekinskaya kapusta, etc.

Although cabbages in general were already known in Europe around 1000 BC, Chinese cabbages did not arrive until the 16th century, and It has been during the 20th century when they have become popular.

Discover in the following video the properties of these 6 cabbages:

You can find bok choy in any supermarket and in many greengrocers, markets and flea markets. They are elongated, like romaine lettuce, but pale in color, with leaves with very wide stalks. They are brown, like cabbage and cabbage, and are in season from late summer to late winter.

Chinese cabbage properties

Chinese cabbage contains good amounts of thiamine, riboflavin, magnesium, and phosphorus, and is a good source of fiber, vitamins A, C, K, B6, K, folic acid, calcium, potassium, and manganese, making it a very interesting to vary our meals.

These are the Chinese cabbage characteristics:

Although the leaves have large white stalks, larger than those of chard, they are not fibrous or hard. They break easily and they are crunchy, similar to lettuce.The inner leaves have more yellow and whitish colors because the sun does not hit them when they grow, the same as happens with endives, for example. When we cut it we see that are a lot of very tight layers of leaves, crisp, smooth and slightly curled.Its flavor is very smooth and slightly sweet. It does not have the characteristic odors of cabbage and cabbage. It can be eaten raw, cooked, pickled or fermented. In Asia, in general, it is widely used and It is used in every possible way.

Choosing, buying and preserving Chinese cabbage

when you buy bok choy note that she is tight, that the leaves are smooth and without spots. That it feels heavy for its size. Many times they come in bags to prevent them from opening with handling and placement. Don’t take the bag off It will be good for you to keep them. Chinese cabbages They last a long time as long as we keep them in the fridge a little protected. If they come in a bag, leave it on. It will last you 2-3 weeks fresh, during which you can go picking leaves to use in your dishes. Chinese cabbage does not stay very well frozen, in fact itThe grace is to consume it fresh, whether raw or cooked, both for its flavor and its textures. If you freeze it, it will be too soft when defrosting.

raw bok choy

You can take loose leaves or cut the cabbage into pieces or thin strips from the tip towards the root.

Always wash it well before using it. You can put it in salads, both fresh leaves and with sauces (such as coleslaw).It goes very well with tahini sauces, peanut butter, sesame oil, soy sauce, or rice vinegar. You can also serve it in wedges (cut each half into 4 pieces) with a simple dressing.

steamed bok choy

You can steam your bok choy as a side dish or side dish. Wash it, cut it into medium-large pieces and put it in your steamer basket for 3-5 minutes. You can leave it for as long as you want, but in 3-5 minutes it will be al dente (tender but with texture).

Serve with soy sauce and rice vinegar, or with sauces with garlic. If you prefer and your steamer is large, you can cut the whole cabbage in half lengthwise and steam it. Before putting it in the steamer, put a little bit of salt between the leaves. It will take 15-20 minutes depending on the size. Halfway through cooking, turn it over to cook the outer leaves, which are thicker. Serve it as it is with a sauce based on soy sauce, garlic, rice vinegar, shallots, etc. Steamed is not as flavorful as with other cooking methods, but it will be very good

Stir-fried Chinese cabbage

It is one of the most common ways to cook Chinese cabbage. It is made quickly, it is juicy and tasty and allows us to make quick vegetable dishes.

You can cut the cabbage as you like, in thin strips or in medium pieces.Add it to the pan when the rest of the ingredients are almost done, because it will be done quickly. Put the pieces of the stalks first and then the leaves. You can let it brown for a little while or quickly sauté it for a couple of minutes until it’s tender.It goes very well with all kinds of ingredients. but I recommend that you try with tofu, spring onion, sesame seeds, carrots, fine green beans, snow peas, peas, bean sprouts, shiitake mushrooms, rice and noodles.

blanched chinese cabbage

It consists of putting the cabbage in boiling water for a very short time and then quickly cooling it by placing it in a bowl with very cold water. In this way we soften it but without cooking it completely.
with this technique you can use the leaves as roll wafers and fill them with whatever you want without them breaking.

Leaves outdoor need 2-3 minutes, while the interiors only 1-2 minutes, depending on hardness.Fill your Chinese cabbage leaves with chopped legumes and vegetablesfilled with spring rolls, tofu, textured soybeans, tempeh, croquette dough… whatever you want. To close them well you can use chopsticks or tie them with chives.Once your rolls are formed you can serve them as is or cook them a little more steamed or grilled for an extra touch of flavor.

Boiled Chinese cabbage

In soups, broths and stews, Chinese cabbage is added andand let it boil with the rest of the ingredients, or it is added at the end if we want it to preserve the texture.

You can cut it however you want depending on the dish you are going to prepare. For example, in thin strips for miso soups and in medium pieces for stews and minestrone. Boiled Chinese cabbage on its own does not have much flavor and the texture is soft. If we cook it with more ingredients it will be much better, in addition to taking the opportunity to include this cabbage in any of those dishes.

pickled chinese cabbage

One of the most popular ways to serve bok choy in East Asian countries is pickled.

You can make a quick pickle with rice vinegar and other ingredients, leaving it in the fridge for 4-8 hours, or, for more flavor and better texture, leave it for at least 3 days. In Korea, in addition to traditional kimchi, they also make other quick pickles, such as baechu-geotjeori. It is made with the same ingredients as kimchi, but instead of putting the mixture of spices and heat between the leaves, the cabbage is cut into medium pieces, mixed with the other ingredients and served at the moment.

fermented Chinese cabbage

The best known fermented with Chinese cabbage is kimchi. In late summer and autumn, when the Chinese cabbage is harvested, a good deal of kimchi is made, stored in large ceramic vats and left to ferment. It is consumed throughout the year.

Kimchi is not difficult to make, but it is labor intensive and requires special ingredients such as glutinous rice flour, buchu (kow choi or nira, similar to garlic sprouts, usually sold in Asian supermarkets), gochugaru, etc. Use a traditional Korean kimchi recipe and adapt it with all the ingredients you can find. Also remember to have containers available both to prepare it and to store it, because it will start to ferment in 24-48 hours but it will need a few more days to mature the flavor.

Chinese cabbage for stuffing

Chinese cabbage can be finely chopped or shredded to be used as a filling for spring rolls, Chinese dumplings, pancakes and stuffed breads, dumplings and pies, etc.

In general It looks great in the masses it does not release water, it is made in its own juice and it provides a very good flavor.It is not necessary to cook it Before using it for these purposes, it is enough to wash it and chop it finely before mixing with the rest of the ingredients.