Baby Bok Choy (Akachan no chin gensai) with Sake and Sesame Oil and Soy Sauce
I "invented" this vegetable dish to go with chicken teriyaki and rice. It was so tasty that I definitely want to make it again. Bok choy is a very healthy green, and the baby ones are so cute!
It is a good way to develop some extra flavor and the char marks look attractive.
Serves 4
About 16 baby bok choy, rinsed, cut in half, damaged leaves removed
2 t. sesame oil
2 T. sake
soy sauce
You will need a stove top grill, a roasting pan big enough for one layer of the baby bok choy, and a piece of aluminum foil big enough to cover the roasting pan.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Place the sesame oil and sake in the bottom of the roasting pan. Toss and coat the baby bok choy with the oil and sake.
Heat up a stove top grill.
Grill both sides of all of the baby bok choy in batches until all of them are blackened and wilted a little.
(Watch that the sake marinade doesn't catch on fire as you move them on to the stovetop grill.)
Return them to the roasting pan. They should be placed in one even layer, if possible.
When they are all grilled, cover the roasting pan with aluminum foil and place it in the oven to finish cooking.
Covering them with aluminum foil creates an environment for them to be steamed.
They will be done in about 10-15 minutes. You just want them to be cooked through but not too soft.
Drizzle with soy sauce and serve immediately.
B