Searing your bok choy is one of the best ways release its natural sweetness and smoky flavor. Brushed with our delicious spicy peanut sauce, this Bok Choy will soon become one of your new favorite vegetables!

Welcome to the FOURTH recipe of our five-part chili oil series where I’ll be sharing some of my favorite spicy recipes using our homemade chili oil!

The chili oil is incredibly easy to make and the best part is that you can store it in the fridge for weeks to use whenever you want.

Looking for more EASY Asian side dishes? Here are some you need to try:

The Bok Choy

Bok Choy is one of my all-time favorite vegetables. I can purchase it all-year round and it’s incredibly versatile in the way it can be prepared.

Other than steaming, boiling, or stir-frying Bok Choy, I also love to fry it on a cast-iron pan.

We sear it just to a point where the Bok Choy develops a nice dark-brown char, giving it new complex flavors of smokiness and slight bitter-sweetness that compliment our chili peanut sauce perfectly.

Ingredients for the peanut bok choy

4-6 bok choy, cut into halves (lengthwise)
Any neutral oil, for frying
1/4 cup water, for steaming

Spicy peanut sauce:

2 tbsp chili oil
1/2 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp peanut butter
1/2 tsp rice vinegar
1-2 tsp sugar
1 tsp garlic powder
1.5 tsp water

Instructions

Prepare the Bok Choy:

Slice the Bok Choy in half, lengthwise.

*Bok Choy tends to collect a lot of dirt, especially near the bottom of the stalk and the inner leaves, so make sure to rinse thoroughly. I usually like to get a bowl of cold water and dunk the Bok Choy a couple times to remove the gritty bits.

After rinsing, pat the Bok Choy dry to reduce splattering in the pan.

Cooking the Bok Choy:

Lightly oil a skillet or pan over medium heat. Sear the bokchoy cut-side-down (the flat part) for around 3-5 minutes, just until the bottom turns a dark-brown charred color.

Flip the Bok Choy over, and carefully pour in the 1/4 cup of water to produce steam. Once all the water has evaporated and the stalks are tender, remove the Bok Choy from the pan.

Prepare the spicy peanut sauce by combining all the ingredients together until smooth.

Brush the sauce on all sides of the Bok Choy and serve, topping with more chili oil if desired.

How to serve

Bok Choy are one of those veggies that pairs well with just about everything!

As a side with any protein of your choice
On noodles (like ramen or soba)
With salads

Of course, you can always serve the Bok Choy on its own as well.