Bok choy noodle stir fry with holy basil that's garlicy, spicy, sweet, savory, and DELICIOUS. The cherry on top? It's ready in less than 30 minutes.
What is Bok Choy?
Bok choy is a type of Chinese cabbage. It has a light, delicate leafy green top, and bulbous bottom.
How Do You Prepare Bok Choy for Stir Fry?
You can eat bok choy both raw or cooked. The leafy tops cook much faster than the bulbous, white bottom. So to cook bok choy in a stir fry, you can either cut a baby bok choy into quarters or eighths to reduce the size of the white end, or you can pull each section apart from the stem and slice them lengthwise them in half or thirds. If you're looking for an even quicker cook, you can thinly slice the whites and add the leafy greens in the last few minutes of cooking.
How To Make Stir-Fried Bok Choy
Heat the oil over medium-low heat in a large fry pan or wok. Add the garlic and Thai chilis and cook until fragrant. Substitute with red pepper flakes if you cannot find Thai chilis.
Add the scallions, ginger, and bok choy. Stir well. Cover to steam for 2 minutes.
Raise the heat to medium. Add the water, fish sauce, oyster sauce, soy sauce, and honey. Stir well. Cook 2-3 minutes until the bok choy greens get bright, then turn off the heat.
Note: For a gluten-free soy sauce option, use tamari.
Cook the noodles per the package. It should take 3-5 minutes. Strain the noodles and add them to your stir fry. Add the basil leaves. Mix well, and serve! For extra flavor, texture, and garnish, sprinkle with black sesame seeds.
Are Thai chilis spicy?
Don't let the size of the Thai chilis fool you - they are packed with wonderful spiciness. So if you're sensitive to spice, I recommend only using 3-5.
I don't eat shellfish. Is there a vegan oyster sauce?
If you're in the market for a vegan oyster sauce, this recipe by Omnivore's Cook is the one I use. The oyster sauce keeps in the refrigerator for 7-10 days.
Interested in adding more protein to the bok choy stir fry?
You can add some tofu between steps 2 & 3 - make sure you sear it on on all sides. Also, you can add chicken, beef, or any other protein you choose. However, make sure your protein is cooked before step 3.
What inspired this bok choy recipe?
We spent 3 months in Thailand and I miss it regularly. Lucky for me, I brought back a ton of food wisdom and even took a cooking class while I was there. Though this one is far from a classic Thai dish, it brings back all the wonderful memories and hopefully takes you on a mini-vacation with each bite. You can never go wrong with a noodle stir fry!
Thai noodle recipes
Can't get enough Thai noodles? Then try my recipe for Tofu Pad Thai. It's completely different from this bok choy noodle stir fry even though it uses the same pad Thai noodles.
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Bok Choy Stir Fry Recipe
Ingredients
- 5 cloves garlic thinly sliced
- 5-7 Thai chilis smashed and thinly sliced
- 1 bunch scallions thinly sliced
- 1 lb. baby bok choy quartered lengthwise
- 2 tablespoon fresh ginger minced or grated
- ¼ cup flavorless oil
- 2 teaspoon honey
- 2 tablespoon oyster sauce (I use vegan oyster sauce made with shitake mushrooms)
- 1 ½ tablespoon fish sauce
- 1 ½ tablespoon soy sauce
- ¼ cup water
- 8-10 oz. pad thai noodles
- 4 oz. holy basil stemmed
Instructions
- Bring water to boil so you can cook the noodles.
- In the meantime, heat the oil over medium-low heat in a large fry pan or wok. Add the garlic and Thai chilis and cook until fragrant.
- Add the scallions, ginger, and bok choy. Stir well. Cover to steam for 2 minutes.
- Raise the heat to medium. Add the water, fish sauce, oyster sauce, soy sauce, and honey. Stir well. Cook 2-3 minutes until the bok choy greens get bright, then turn off the heat.
- Cook the noodles per the package. Should take 3-5 minutes.
- Strain the noodles and add them to your stir fry. Add the basil leaves. Mix well, and serve!
Notes
Nutrition
This post was originally published in September of 2018, but was republished with new photos, step by step instructions, and tips August of 2019.
Bethy
I made this for lunch today after searching for holy basil and bok choy recipes, I had too much of both in my kitchen!
This turned out super yummy tho the cook times had to be extended for on both the vegetable and the noodles, and the sauce was more runny than I thought expected.
It was still good tho.
I even added mushrooms.
At the table we enjoyed complementing it with laoganma chili oil with fermented soybeans, just something we like in our household. Definitely tasty enough without it but we enjoy the added oomph.
Candice
I'm so glad you liked it, Bethy. Thank you for taking the time to leave this review!
Loving the added oomph of the sides and the extra touch of mushrooms. Enjoy!