Bok Choy is available year round, easy to cook and super tasty. Among many ways to enjoy it, cast iron grilled bok choy is one of my favorite ways to cook and serve this amazing vegetable. Other popular choices are making a stir-fry, adding to a soup or even a salad.
Cast iron grilled bok choy is incredibly easy to make, all you need is a hot cast iron pan. Grilling helps the natural sweetness of the bok choy to concentrate and for a appealing charring to develop.
I am excited to share this recipe, let’s dive right in!
First, we need to cut the stalks in half, lengthwise. Then simply drizzle the cut sizes with some olive oil and sprinkle some salt and pepper on top.
A note on how to clean bok choy
The bottoms of the bok choy are usually quite sandy and gritty, they need to be cleaned thoroughly before cooking. Simply rinsing under cold water is hard to get all the sand out, since we are not separating the leaves from the stems.
A helpful tip that I learned from my mom is to put the bok choy in a colander in the sink and then fill the sink with water enough to cover the vegetable. Lifting the colander out of the water helps the grit fall to the bottom of the sink (try a few times till there’s no more grit in the bottom of the sink)
Once seasoned, I placed the bok choy cut size down, onto a hot cast iron pan (on medium heat). It is important to not move the bok choy often and leave them in place until a nice char has developed, this takes only a few minutes.
When there is a nice charr on the cut sizes of the bok choy, it’s time to turn them over to let the other side cook. After they were turned, carefully pour 1/4-1/2 cup of water into the pan. As soon as the cold water meets the hot pan, it turns into steam and helps to steam the bok choy as it disappears.
Once the water is boiled out, the grilled bok choy will be ready to serve.
The grilled bok choy is perfectly great to serve as is. But if you want to give it a bit of a spicy kick, brush it with a few tablespoons of this glaze made from soy, Korean hot pepper paste (Gochujang) and a few other ingredients.
This time, I served it with a boiled egg and garnished with bonito flakes over white rice. But this could also be a side dish that goes well with chicken, steak or other meat dishes in your meal to give it a Asian twist.
I hope you enjoy making this tasty Cast Iron Grilled Bok Choy. If you like this recipe, please leave a rating and share it with your friends!
- 4-6 stalks bok choy, cut into halves lengthwise
- a few tablespoons olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
- Spicy sauce:
- 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 2 tablespoon Korean hot pepper paste (gochujang)
- 2 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
- Remove any damaged leaves from the outside of the bok choy and cut them in half lengthwise.
- Thoroughly clean by putting them in a colander then into the sink filled with water enough to cover the bok choy, by lifting the colander out of the water, the agitate water will help the sand and grit fall to the bottom of the sink. (repeat a few times till there's no more grit in the bottom of the sink).
- Pat the bok choy halves dry with a paper tower and set aside.
- Drizzle some olive oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper onto the cut sides of the bok choy.
- Whisk together garlic, Korean hot pepper paste, soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, cornstarch, water and sesame seeds in a small bowl and set aside.
- Heat a cast iron pan over medium heat until hot, place the bok choy onto the pan cut side down and leave them in place for a few minutes until browned and charred.
- Turn them over and carefully pour half cup of water around the pan to help steam the bok choy.
- Once the water's boiled out, transfer them to a plate.
- Give the sauce mixture in the bowl a good stir and pour it into a small sauce pan, bring to a boil over low heat. Simmer for 1-2 minutes or until the sauce has thickened.
- Brush the grilled bok choy with the glaze, serve and enjoy!
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