Happy Chinese New Year! If you’re looking for a simple side dish for your Chinese New Year gathering, this is your ticket. This dish needs only a few ingredients, yet packs a ton of flavour. If you planted pac choi in your winter garden, grab a few from outside, sauté, and serve along rice and your favourite protein. Didn’t grow pac choi this past winter? Pac choi can be started outdoors in some regions as early as February. Learn when to grow pac choi with our regional planning charts, then make this savoury dish later in the season.
Serves: 4
Ingredients
1 Tbs vegetable oil
1 Tbs sesame oil
2 medium cloves of garlic, minced
(Note: We used this opportunity to use up spare italian hardneck cloves. If you have any garlic you didn’t plant, cook with it!)
1 tsp grated ginger
¼ tsp red pepper flakes
1 ½ lbs pac choi (Our favourite is the Toy Choy variety), cut into 1 inch pieces.
1 Tbs soy sauce
2 Tbs water
Instructions
In a frying pan, heat vegetable oil and sesame oil over medium-high heat. Add garlic, ginger, and red pepper flakes. Stir constantly for 30 seconds to one minute, until fragrant.
Add pac choi and fold into garlic-ginger mixture until evenly coated. Add soy sauce and water, and cover with lid. Allow steam to accumulate, about 2 minutes. Remove lid and stir until leaves are slightly wilted and stems are slightly soft.
Remove from heat and serve on top of rice.