the Way I like Bok Choy

[digitS']

This is the best time to harvest bok choy . . . just in my not-so-humble opinion:

Yes, I like the tender little leaves of baby bok choy. But when the plants begin to bolt, the flower stalks are usually more tender and sweeter! The lower leaves can stay right there in the garden and more flower shoots will develop. I can harvest them until they are just too small to bother with.

For me, flowering bok choy tops broccoli!

Steve

 

[NwMtGardener]

Heh, last year when i grew bok choi for the first time, i didnt REALLY know what to do with it (and i didnt know all you fabulous smart people!) so thats what happened, it bolted, and i cut it off and chopped it up inmy salad, it was good! But it never looked like the Grocery Store variety, i was wondering what i did wrong...not enough fertilizer maybe. It just wasnt fleshy and full! So i didnt grow any this year

 

[buckabucka]

Isn't that broccoli raab? I'm growing bok choy for the first time this year, - it's still really small.

 

[digitS']

Heather, bok choy is darn sensitive to its environment - which seems a little odd given its ease of transplanting, quick growth and all that.

It has as its primary purpose, flowering and reproducing itself. It things don't go just right, it bolts and sometimes, it bolts when it is really tiny.

I just sow seed and a week later, sow more seed and just keep doing that. Too early or too late, bok choy won't make much of a plant but I'll hit it just right in there somewhere and even the tiny plants are still tasty. If it starts to bolt - I grab it and make use of it in the kitchen. However, once those flower buds actually start to open, there's only a couple of days before it is really past its prime.

Broccoli raab is a different vegetable but the flower stalks of any of the brassicas can be eaten. Komatsuna is, as best as I remember, actually a Japanese mustard. It doesn't look much like a mustard but both have edible flower buds. And, there are others of these veggies, too.

Steve

 

[ninnymary]

Oh Steve..I didn't know you could just cut the plant off when it starts to bolt. I pulled mine all out! I think I also let the flowers open too much. Learned something new today. Cut, don't pull out, and use when flowers are still closed. Thanks for the great info. That's why I love this place. Always learning something from wonderful people.

By the way, reading your title, I thought you had a recipe for us.

Mary

 

[lesa]

I would love a recipe too!

 

[digitS']

Keep in mind that my stir fries are usually very simple things: the bok choy in the bowl just went in with some bacon, thick-sliced and cut to bite-sized with green onions. That went over rice.

Yes, a little more complex dish is even better ! Okay, here is one that I can enjoy with the ripe peppers in September . The bok choy seed will be sown again in August so they'll be baaack! I don't consider Chinese cabbage the same as bok choy but they are interchangeable in something like this. Bok choy is less problematice to grow in my garden.

Forget having "4 cups sliced shiitake mushrooms!" Gracious! Maybe a couple of shiitake mushrooms and 4 cups of button mushrooms. That much beef isn't necessary. By September, the onions will be sweet onions or sauteed shallots. And, I might splash some rice vinegar in this.

Preparing veggies like this is very common in my kitchen :

Japanese Beef Stir-Fry

Steve

 

[vfem]

I adore bok choy, I just got things going with my cool season seeds too late, and knowing how senstive it is... I opted to wait until fall. I've never had it after its bolted, but now I know... and knowing is half the adventure!

 

[hoodat]

Kailaan is a good Chinese green if you like the flower shoots. It's bred just for that purpose. You just keep cutting the shoots and it keeps making more. The leaves are edible, but sparse compared to bak choy.

 

[digitS']

I know that is true, Hoodat, because I sometimes buy Kailaan (Gai Lan) during the winter months.

However, I haven't been very successful growing it.

One couldn't find a climate less like southern China or Southeast Asia than here ! I'm beginning to suspect that I may be better off with Japanese greens since the Pacific coast weather tends to invade inland several hundred miles during the spring months. I know that this is a bit simplistic but . . my mind works that way .

Mizuna grows just fine. Komatsuna seems to also, altho' I'm not real sure how it is supposed to grow since I've only had Komatsuna twice. But, I'm delighted with it!

Steve