Braised baby bok choy

I gotta tell you that I think baby bok choy is one of the snazziest looking vegetables around. I mean look at it, how perfect is that colour and that shape? But no matter how much I try to convince G of its visual appeal, he is still not a big fan of its slightly bitter taste. (I'm sure he's not the only one).

So, I do what any baby bok choy lovin' gal would do: buy it and eat the whole damn thing herself. (And it's kind of fun to say "baby bok choy", don't you think? It has the same appeal on the lips as that "baby back, baby back, baby back ribs" thing.)

Believe it or not I recently came home with some UK grown baby bok choy.
UK grown!
I kid you not.
And I usually do the same old thing with it--steam it and top it with a dressing made of soy sauce, sesame oil, a bit of sugar, some water and dried chilies.
But this time I threw caution to the wind and braised it, with a little help from Epicurious.
I mean it's bok choy people, it doesn't need to be complicated, right?

Braised baby bok choy with a shot of sesame oil



The recipe at Epicurious for Braised Baby Bok Choy calls for the bok choy to be braised in a cup of chicken stock and 3 tablespoons of butter for about 5 minutes until tender. (With the lid on the pan! And note that I cut the bok choy in half down its length.) Then you remove the bok choy, reduce the stock to about 1/4 cup, then add 1/2 teaspoon of sesame oil and pour this over the bok choy.

Since G was having none of this, I couldn't justify 3 tablespoons of butter. So, I used only a tablespoon but I still got a good wollop of yummy butteryness- the liquid gets all tucked into the leaves as they wilt. I can only imagine how sinfully good it must taste with 3 tablespoons.
And in the end, just before eating it, I could not resist adding a sprinkle of sesame seeds, because a girl needs her omega 6.
Some of the reviews suggest adding a shot of soy sauce as well which is a suggestion that I wholeheartedly support.