The good stuff:
- Any green vegetable with leaves is extraordinarily good for you: callaloo, romaine, kale, spinach, pak choi… all those (mostly) affordable veggies we get abundantly here in Jamaica. Ideally, you want leafy greens on your plate every day- if you can.
- Pak choi can be consumed raw or cooked and is an excellent source of calcium, magnesium & potassium- believe it or not!
- 100gr of raw pak choi (which once cooked, turns out to be a very small amount- so you can easily consume this quantity!) covers 90% of Vitamin A & 75% Vitamin C DRV. Just a tiny 100gr uncooked portion!
You’ll need:
- 8-10 Shanghai baby pak choi*
- 3 tablespoons sesame oil*
- 4-5 garlic cloves, cut in half, lengthwise
- Pinch of salt
- Sprinkle of sesame seeds*
The process:
- Boil a large pot of water
- In the meantime, cut the baby pak choi lengthwise and rinse them out carefully.
- Once the water boils, place the pak choi and cook for exactly 1 minute.
- Remove and quickly rinse with cold water. Set the pak choi aside.
- In a large pan, place the sesame oil with the garlic cloves. Cook until the garlic is golden. Remove this oil and transfer to a bowl. Add sesame seeds and set aside (this is going to serve as a type of “dressing” to cook the pak choi in).
- Now, place the pak choi in the large pan and drizzle the garlic-sesame oil all over. Cook for just 4-5 minutes. Add a sprinkle of salt and sesame seeds.
- That’s it. Enjoy 🙂
Notes:
- *Sesame oil & sesame seeds are optional- but if you can use some (especially the oil) it will give a real flavour burst.
- Shanghai baby pak choi can be found at most supermarkets (in Kingston) and is generally very affordable.
- Most pak choi recipes of this style include soy sauce, but I avoid using any soy product (personal decision) and avoid soy sauce completely due to the very high sodium content.