look… i like reading cookbooks. i just don’t really use them.
I could eat yu choy every single day.
My favorite leafy green crunchy veg is yu choy. I first picked it up, about a year and a half ago maybe, at the Pershing Sq Farmers’ Market. After that, I just started buying it everywhere I saw it. It cooks quickly and lends it self to simple flavors. I tend to use the same ingredients when I cook it, but a co-worker told me her mom uses it in her caldo de pollo. (Mexican Chicken Soup)
I haven’t had much luck with keeping yu choy very long before the leaves start losing their pretty, so I like to cook it within a day or two of bringing it home. I bought a bunch before I got my dental surgery last year. I cooked it and kept it frozen for months. Tasted great when I could finally chew again.
Where does one get yu choy? Yeah, I didn’t see it until I moved to LA and started going to the market. I can pick it up in the Korean grocery down the street. Check the produce aisle at your local Asian spots. I’m a dork for a grocery store, so while some are going through racks at Barneys, I’m all giddy wandering the aisles at international/ethnic stores around town. Even if folks are staring, shrug those shoulders and take your time. It’s an adventure not far from home.
How does one cook this yu choy? I cook it quite simply and quite quickly. And I, honestly, don’t measure much or at all, really. I drizzle, splash and squirt. (♥:Can we talk about how that sounds? Like, really?)
How else can one cook this here yu choy? I’ve used yu choy in my ‘Not Pad Thai’ and would no doubt have it in ramen, if I was still on that Sopporo Ichiban Original Flavor crack.
Something Simple | Yu Choy
two bunches of yu choy | garlic | ginger | grapeseed/veg oil | sesame oil | soy sauce | sriracha
Chop the yu choy into bite size pieces. Mince one garlic clove. Grate maybe a teaspoon of fresh ginger. Heat a bit of grapeseed oil in the pan. Cook the garlic and ginger for about a minute over med/high heat. Toss in yu choy. Drizzle a little soy sauce and sesame oil over the yu choy. Add a squirt of sriracha. Stir until the yu choy leaves start to wilt and give off a little water. Cover and let it steam for a minute or two.
Honestly, takes less than five minutes. I like the leaves glossy and the stems crunchy. I use two bunches of yu choy, because it loses loads of volume. l usually add a little more sriracha to taste. Okay, a lot more. I like it HOT!
I can have just yu choy for dinner. Like the bowl above last night. Just me and my chopsticks.
nikki♥
*um, yes you can eat yu choy with a fork. i just don’t.
*oh, yeah. yu choy, depending on when it’s picked, has few yellow flowers or lots of yellow flowers. i’ve read that you’re not supposed to eat the flowers. i cut around them. a few gotten in and, um, i’m still here.