Baby Bok Choy With Oyster Sauce

By Sam Sifton

Updated March 29, 2026

Baby Bok Choy With Oyster Sauce
Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.
Total Time
10 minutes
Rating
5(1,871)
Comments
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This is among the easiest, most flavorful preparations of greens imaginable, and it pairs beautifully with almost any vaguely Asian roasted meat or fish. It is also exceptional on its own, with rice. You could swap out the bok choy for broccoli, if that's all you have, or chard, or beet greens.

Featured in: Asian Pantry Essentials

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings
  • 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
Ingredient Substitution Guide
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

  1. Step 1

    Combine soy sauce, oyster sauce, sugar and rice vinegar in a bowl and set aside.

  2. 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.

  3. 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.

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Ratings

5 out of 5
1,871 user ratings
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Comments

Mimi Katan

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.

petey tonei

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.

Cedarglen

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!!

laura stone

not good… sauce doesn't hold on sauce after sautéing the bok chow… Bok choy needs to cook longer.. it was very raw. Very ordinary prep with a decent sauce.

VirtualAmyk

I should have quartered the bok choy. I halved it. The steaming step is a bit deceiving, and the bok choy can quickly get cooked. I still got the recipe to work by adding the sauce, then removing the bok choy and boiling the sauce, much too thin. Then added the bok choy back. All in all, I think the recipe is not all you need to cook this dish.

James H.

Has anyone had success giving the BBC a nice searing in an air-fryer, instead of boiling/blanching/wok?

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