Baby Bok Choy With Oyster Sauce
Updated March 29, 2026
- Total Time
- 10 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
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Ingredients
- 1tablespoon soy sauce
- 3½tablespoons oyster sauce
- Pinch of sugar
- 2tablespoons rice vinegar (do not use seasoned rice vinegar)
- 1tablespoon neutral oil
- 1tablespoon finely minced garlic
- 4 to 6bunches of baby bok choy, approximately 1½ pounds, cleaned, with ends trimmed
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
61 calories; 4 grams fat; 0 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 2 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 6 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 1 gram sugars; 2 grams protein; 659 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Combine soy sauce, oyster sauce, sugar and rice vinegar in a bowl and set aside.
- Step 2
Heat oil in a skillet or wok set over high heat. When it shimmers, add garlic, then bok choy, and stir-fry for 2 minutes. Add 2 to 3 tablespoons water to the skillet or wok, then cover it and allow to cook for 2 to 3 minutes more, until bok choy has softened nicely at its base.
- Step 3
Remove bok choy from the skillet or wok and place it on a warmed platter. Drizzle the reserved sauce over the greens and serve.
Private Notes
Comments
I have made variations of this since childhood. If you blanch the Asian greens in plenty of water they would be bright green, crisp-tender, and all the grit would drop to the bottom of the blanching pot leaving the greens grit free.
It gives the dish a good consistency (ie not runny) if you mix a little corn or tapioca starch to the sauce (equal quantity soy and oyster) and cook them with some minced fresh ginger and garlic. Then add the steamed or stir fried bok choy back to the "cooked" sauce.
Six Stars? Made this many times, but with different sauce. I like Sam's better. We just finished a platter, served only with some rice; pleased and fully satisfied. Cleaning baby bok-choy is easy: Root end up, immerse leaves in a deep bowl of water and drain multiple times, finishing with a couple of inverted rinses. Some don't bother, but I don't like the grit; B-C grows best in slightly sandy soil, so some will get in. It cooks quickly, so have everything else ready. Thanks Sam!!
Can it be explained why seasoned vinegar should not be used?
Guessing unseasoned rice vinegar means the unsweetened kind, which may be scarce in your neighborhood. (In the USA, a lot of the rice vinegar you can buy is sweetened.) Wouldn't other unsweetened vinegars work? Maybe diluted with water, since rice vinegar seems less acidic than most vinegars? Just a thought.
Split the greens down the middle and clean out dirt. Instead of a wok, use a frying pan. Heat it up with a little neutral oil, add garlic and bok choi, cut surface down. Sauté until golden on cut surface then turn over and cover for a few minutes until tender. If you want, you can add fish sauce at the very end; adding the sauce or water during the cooking will liberate water, which can make the dish bitter. Presents beautifully laid out on a platter. Let cool before adding sauce.
The recipe suggests skillet or wok; you say frying pan. Other than that, what is different about your recipe? I don't agree about letting the bok choi cool before adding sauce; warm vegetables absorb the flavor of the sauce more readily.