Easy Spicy Baby Bok Choy Salad

Want something refreshing, spicy, tangy and crunchy??

Tired of heavy and rich party foods from the holidays?

Try making this spicy baby bok choy salad with your next meal. Excellent side dish for any Korean meal but can be eaten any which way. 

During my recent visit to Virginia, I tasted a very delicious spicy bok choy salad made by my sister #2. All Korean style bok choy salads I had before were lot more pungent and salty – similar to Kimchi Geotjori – with quite a bit of fish sauce and garlic. Not to say that – that version is bad tasting. That is really yummy too. But this baby bok choy salad was different, it had no garlic and was very light and fresh tasting. And yet, it totally worked like fresh Kimchi.

So for our New Year’s Tteok Guk party at our home, I decided to make this spicy baby bok choy salad. Since I didn’t have the recipe I developed this on my own from my memory of how it tasted.

And By George, I think I have GOT IT!! (my favorite movie btw – my fair lady..I think I probably saw it over 20 times!!)

This spicy, crunchy and tangy salad went really well with somewhat bland Tteok Guk and Fish Jeon.  I think I got the most comment about my Tteok Guk and this baby bok choy salad. ALL GOOD, of course!! My bugeo gui ended up being too salty so I had to adjust by squeezing out the marinade before pan frying and then it was much better. Well, I can’t be perfect everytime~ lol.

BTW, to share a little bit more about who we invited over for New Year’s –

Over the 20+ years of living in the US, we have two main groups of friends: one is made up of 6 of our neighborhood American friends (we are the only Asian) which we call the Happy Hour group and 2nd is also made up of 6 Korean American friends and families which has no name.

The Happy Hour group meets mostly in the summer to celebrate California’s fabulous summer evenings. We take turns hosting and people bring appetizers, desserts and WINE! We also usually celebrate New Year’s eve and big events like graduation or big birthdays. Although our cultures are different, we have truly become good friends over the years (since my daughter was in 1st grade) and gone through a lot together.

The Korean American group is great because they are essentially our Korean family away from Korea. For most of us, our relatives and parents all still live in Korea and so when traditional family holiday like Thanksgiving and New Year’s come around, we get together to celebrate Korean food and culture. So I made Tteok Guk and a few side dishes for this group last Saturday.They are also mostly my Church group so I get to see them almost every Sunday which is even better.

All in all, I feel truly blessed to be part of such great group of friends!!

Servings: 8                     Cooking Time: Inactive: 3 -4 hrs* Active: 10-20 min            Difficulty: Easy

*dressing works best if left for 3-4 hrs but you can try using sweet onions or purple onions with milder flavor and use dressing right away if you don’t have time. 

Ingredients

• 1 lb baby bok choy or Shanghai bok choy
• 1/2 yellow onions (sweet onions for milder taste)
• 3 Tbs + 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 Tbs + 1 tsp gochukaru (korean red chili powder)
• 1~2 tsp anchovy sauce (멸치액젓 myeolchi aekjeot) or fish sauce
• 1 T + 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp guk kanjang (substitute 1/2 tsp salt)
• sesame seeds

 

1. Make dressing by chopping onions in a blender and then mixing in all ingredients except bok choy. Let dressing sit for 3-4 hrs or overnight for the onion to lose its sharpness and for everything to meld together. If you don’t have time, use milder onions like sweet onions or purple onions. But allowing time for the flavor to develop will probably be best.
   

   Chopping onions for Bok Choy Salad

   
   

   Spicy Onion Dressing for Bok Choy Salad

2. Wash bok choy, drain and cut half, lengthwise.
3. Toss bok choy with dressing. For Shanghai bok choy or baby bok choy which are very tender, you should toss and serve right away. If bok choy is a little tough, let it sit in dressing for 10 min or so. 
4. Optionally, sprinkle some sesame seeds for extra nutty flavor.

Enjoy!!

Here’s a snapshot of my New Year’s menu while I was preparing. Didn’t get to take final pictures.. :(( Always so hard to take pictures when you have hungry people waiting…

All recipes are on my blog. The only thing missing here is Kimchi, Green Namul(취나물) and Tteok Mandoo Guk itself..sigh..

 

Ideas and Tips:

• Spicy onion dressing tastes best when left over several hours or even overnight in the fridge. Make batches of the sauce and use it later.
• Try the same onion dressing on other vegetables like broccoli and napa cabbage. Should be yummy!
• Use purple onion or sweet onions instead and you should be able to use the dressing right away if you are in a hurry.

A very Happy New Year everyone! Looking forward to another year of blogging.

Wish you all a wonderful year of the Monkey full of happiness, health and good eats!

XOXO,

JinJoo

 

 

 

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