Pak Choi Stir-Fry with Seitan

One of the vegetables in our CSA share was pak choi (which I realized is actually just bok choy!). This chinese cabbage is fantastic for stir-frying, so I decided I'd go for something quick, easy and relatively simple.


The pak choi was relatively small (like a baby bok choy), so it mostly consisted of leafy greens.

Ordinarily when stir-frying I would add garlic to the oil first thing (to season). We also had some small onions in our CSA, however, so I decided to throw these in instead.


For my protein I decided to add seitan, which I think is the easiest vegan protein to throw into your stir-fry. (see my previous entry for more information on seitan)

Pak Choi Stir-Fry with Seitan
What You'll Need:
2 tbsp peanut oil
1 very small onion (or 2 large cloves garlic), minced
1/2 tsp rice vinegar
3 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
1 8 oz. package seitan, cut into small pieces
1 tbsp cooking wine (I used dry sherry)
1 small bunch of pak choi (baby bok choy), (sliced thinly on the diagonal, separate the chopped leaves separated from the chopped stalks)

What You'll Need to Do:
Place the peanut oil in your work (or frying pan) and spread around evenly. Raise the heat to medium-high, and after a minute add the onions. Sauté the onions for a minute or so, until fragrant. Add the chopped stalk of the pak choi, 1/2 teaspoon rice vinegar, 1 teaspoon soy sauce and 1 teaspoon sesame oil. Sauté another 3 minutes or so, then add the seitan and turp up the heat to get a good sear. Add another teaspoon of soy sauce. Sauté the seitan for about 3 minutes on each side, until beginning to brown, then add the cooking wine to deglaze the pan. Add you greens, and...you guessed it...another teaspoon more soy sauce! Reduce the heat to low, and cover until your greens are just beginning to wilt and soften. Turn off the heat, stir and eat!



My Thoughts:
This is a really simple, straightforward stir-fry recipe. There are all kinds of fun ways to spice it up! You could add ginger along with the onion or garlic at the beginning, red pepper flakes or white pepper at the end, etc. My favorite stir-fry topping to add on is toasted sesame seeds! In the picture above there is some seared polenta on the side--a very weird starch pairing, I must admit (our pantry was running bare!). I'd recommend serving with rice, or even rice noodles or soba. If you want to serve with noodles, you can add the pre-cooked noodles to the stir-fry at the very end, along with some hoisin sauce and soy sauce, to moisten.

As with most stir-frying, I would recommend starting with your heat on medium-high and adjusting as needed. I like to use a non-stick wok, but any large non-stick, heavy-bottomed skillet should work well!