Bok choy can be cooked in a variety of ways, and can be used in almost any dish. It can be steamed, broiled, stir fried, and even eaten raw chopped into a salad. It has a very mild cabbage flavor, and the texture of the stalk is similar to that of celery. The best part about this Chinese cabbage is that it takes on the wonderful flavors of the spices and sauces that it is cooked in. The recipe below is a perfect example of how bok choy can take on flavor. Here it is stir fried in a hot and spicy sauce. For those of you who enjoy just a light spicy flavor, simply leave out the chili oil and use only 2 tablespoons of the hot chili garlic sauce. Let me know what you think of this recipe by commenting below. Enjoy!




Bok Choy
1 large head of bok choy
1 tbsp peanut oil
½ tsp chili oil
3 tbsp hot chili garlic sauce
1 cup chicken broth
1 ½ tsp cornstarch

1. Begin cleaning the bok choy by cutting off the bottom base. This separates the stalks so that you can rinse them individually. Rinse them in cold water, shake the excess water off, and then wipe them dry with an absorbent paper towel. The base of the bok choy can be discarded.
2. Cut the bok choy into 1 inch pieces. Slice the stalks as you would celery, and chop up the leaves.
3. In a large non stick pot or wok, heat both oils on high. Add the bok choy and chili garlic sauce and stir fry for 6 minutes. Many stir fry recipes call for the stalks to be stir fried first and then the leaves. This is simply so that the leaves and the stalks remain bright and crisp. It takes about 3 minutes for the leaves to cook and 6 minutes for the stalks. In this recipe however I combine them for simplicity.
4. Once the bok choy has been stir fried, add the chicken broth and bring to a boil.
5. Mix the cornstarch with just a little water so that it dissolves. Then add this mixture to the bok choy and stir until thick.
6. This makes a delicious side dish served along salmon or almost any fish entree with white rice. Makes about 4 servings.

Hawaii is known for its white sand beaches, tropical climate and fun water sports. But any food lover wil tell you that the real draw on Oahu is the fresh garlic shrimp, served at roadside shrimp trucks along the North Shore.


Chef Jason Hill shows you how to make garlic shrimp scampi modeled after the famous shrimp shacks in Kahuku.


At our favorite stop, Giovanni's shrimp truck, in Kahuku, each plate includes 12 shrimp with two mounds of steamed sticky calrose rice and a lemon wedge. We hope you enjoy this — it's almost a perfect replica of Giovanni's shrimp.


Mahalo!





Hawaiian Shrimp Truck Scampi
10 shell-on U-15 (extra large) shrimp, deveined
1 head (10 cloves) garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
1 cup flour
2 tablespoons paprika
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (1 tablespoon for spicier tastes)
1/2 stick clarified butter (see our video recipe)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 cup white wine
2 tablespoons regular butter


To begin, rinse and thaw your large shrimp in cool running water. Lightly pat dry. In a wide tupperware dish, place the flour, paprika and cayenne pepper. Mix lightly with your hands and coat each piece of shrimp on both sides.
Heat saute pan over high heat.


Add clarified butter and garlic. Stir for 1 minute, then add all of the shrimp, which has been coated in the flour mixture. Saute 3 minutes on each side.


After 3 minutes on the second side, add the 1/8 cup of white wine and 2 tablespoons butter. Saute, turning shrimp occasionally, until it reaches a caramel brown color.


Remove shrimp immediately and serve with two mounds of sticky steamed calrose rice and a lemon wedge, spooning extra garlic butter sauce over the rice and shrimp. Add extra salt and cayenne pepper to taste if desired.


Makes 2 servings of 5 jumbo shrimp each.


Chef's Note: You leave the shell on only during the cooking process. This keeps the shrimp tender and moist. Afterward, you peel and eat them, topped with the buttery garlic sauce and sticky rice.