Any suggestions on how to cook these veg in a way that is flavourful and low cal?

Bok Choi is great in soup and stir fry. I imagine the other one works well there too.

Bok Choi is also great halved, steamed and then baked or fried on a parmesan crust..Less low cal, but tasty and you need SOME fat.

Here’s a simple stir fry I do every day. Takes about 10 min.

1. Break off individuals leaves from the pak choi and wash.

2. Cut into 2 inch pieces. You can separate the green leaf part from the white stem to prevent overcooking the leaves.

3. Add 1 tbsp of **vegetable oil** (I love the green rapeseed oil for pak choi) to your pan or wok. Add the pak choi. Use high heat on an electric stove, or medium heat on a gas stove.

4. For each lb of vegetables, use 1/2 tsp of **salt**, 1/2 tsp of **sugar**, and 1/4 tsp of **chicken broth powder** (optional for the umami taste).

5. Turn the vegetables continuously with a spatula. The seasonings will draw out moisture while the edges get a caramel brown with the added sugar.

6. Add in the leaves if you separated them earlier.

7. When the vegetables reach the desired firmness, turn off the heat, add a splash of **lemon juice** and plate immediately. I normally like my pak choi crunchy, but after the first frost, the stem accumulates more simple sugars and gains a sweet taste, at which point it tastes much better if I let it soften in the pan.

8. Enjoy!

You’re getting a lot of ideas here but just wanted to say I’m psyched for you haha. I’m Asian and grew up eating veggies like this. I’ve never understood the whole thing about kids eating veggies cos Asian veggies are goddamn delicious.

Hot oil + garlic + add veg when garlic is golden brown + bit of soy

Or

Boil, add a bit of oyster sauce

we always just have pak choi with sushi rice, crispy tofu, broccoli and loads of gochujang/sriracha

Just yesterday I made a chicken and bok choy stirfry that was delicious. I could have just eaten the bok choy and it would have been amazing.

Chop the bok choy into bite size pieces. Leafy part, thick parts, all of it. In a bowl, mix 2 tablespoons soy sauce, a tablespoon of oyster sauce, a teaspoon of cornstarch, and 1/4 cup water. Heat up a pan or wok on high, add a touch of oil, some garlic, and ginger. Cook chicken first (if you want) otherwise throw the veggies in. Saute for a couple minutes, then add the sauce. It’ll thicken up a bit and you’ll be good to go.

If you want the main Asian trick, it’s in the glaze. Cook with whatever flavoring you want. I do recommend MSG or equivalent, like soy sauce, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, etc and then finish the dish by thickening the liquid with a cornstarch slurry. If you used any oil, it will emulsify together with the flavored liquid and makes the whole dish shiny. For lower cal, you can skip fats and oils and just use any salty flavoring base (not sugary).

They’re perfect on their own when cooked like that, but I personally think they shine more if you combined them with sliced mushrooms cooked with the same glaze in the same pan..

I love to slice them and throw them into my ramen noodles along with green onions and mushrooms!

https://preview.redd.it/4afo5lrw0gbe1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=34eb16ac1dc0e84d23e61dfa3126f95dc8386dd5

Grew up eating these veggies all the time and figured I might want to make this a top-level comment!

Tips:
– Separate stems and leaves when cooking most Chinese veggies, as the stems generally require more cook time. (Though you might be able to get away with cooking everything at once for yu choy/choy sum.)

– Add a little bit of baking soda to boiling water to keep the color greener!

My favorite way to cook:

1. ⁠Blanch the veggies. Cook stems for ~2 min, then add leaves and boil for another minute or two until soft and bright green. Drain and plate the veggies.
2. ⁠Slice ~0.5-1 inch of ginger per bunch of veggies, if I were to estimate. Place the slices on top of the blanched veggies. You can also add sliced green onions and chilis on top.
3. ⁠Slice 2-3 garlic slices per bunch of veggies. Heat ~2tbsp of neutral oil until very hot and shimmering. Throw garlic slices in for a few seconds. It will cook very fast.
4. ⁠Pour the hot oil and garlic over the veggies and ginger to cook/release aroma. Add soy sauce or oyster sauce to taste, or a sprinkle of kosher salt if you’re trying to be healthier.

Stir fry! Bok choy is my bulk choice of veg along with some carrots, bean sprouts, onion, mushrooms, corn, peas, etc whatever you got in the fridge honestly. make oil hot, garlic, ginger, protein of choice (including tofu), move it around and fry and add sauce of choice in the last minute.

Costco wontons soup with bokchoi some soy sauce onion carrots is delicious and pretty low calorie.

Wintons are like 300 cal for 20 wontons

I like to sautee bok choy with a combination of soy sauce, vinegar, and a little bit of sesame oil. You can add a pinch of your favorite low cal sweetener to the sauce. I premix the sauce.

Make hotpot!

Take broth of any kind (like 3-4 cups) and add soy sauce and mirin. Bring that to a boil in a pot that has a lid.

Add in the vegetables you want (typically stuff like Bok Choy, cabbage, spinach, carrots, and mushrooms. You can add whatever but I would try to avoid vegetables that get kinda wrinkly and flimsy when cooked, like eggplant or zucchini) and let it simmer with the lid closed for like 5-8 minutes.

I like to then dump it all into a big bowl and eat it with chopsticks. Sometimes I’ll also add uncooked rice noodles to the bowl to get cooked as I eat the rest of the soup.

I usually throw in precooked shrimp and a piece of frozen fish when I add in the vegetables for protein. I’ll also usually quarter some radishes and add them to the pot right away as the broth is coming to a boil.

I use the Shanghai bok choy in soups