Stir Fried Shrimp & Bok Choy

Stir Fried Shrimp & Bok Choy has quickly become a new favorite at our house.

The shrimp part is a no brainer – we love it and I always have good, flash frozen, wild-caught pink shrimp in my freezer. One of the perks of living in Florida is easy access to good shrimp.

The bok choy part was an easy addition. I often buy baby bok choy and sauté it as a super quick side dish. However, this year I’ve joined a CSA for the first time. For those who don’t know, CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. It’s basically signing up with a real life farm (and farmer!), paying a fee, and receiving fresh produce on a weekly basis.

Because Florida weather is all upside down and sideways, our CSA farming season happens in what everyone else calls winter. Every other week (I bought a half CSA share because there are only two of us) I go out to the farm, which is only about 15 minutes from our house, and pick up whatever fresh veggies they are offering.

Look at all these gorgeous, organic veggies! I’m in heaven!!! This is a picture of my first haul from the farm. Left to right we have Green Beans, Turnips, Garlic Chives, Oregano, Daikon Radish (that’s the long skinny white thing…delicious!), Yellow Summer Squash, Zucchini, Bok Choy, Patty Pan Squash (I stuffed those! Recipe coming soon.) and Roselle which is also called Florida Cranberry. It’s related to a hibiscus so I made tea with it.

So far, I’m really happy that we haven’t wasted anything we’ve received. This also speaks VOLUMES for the quality of real, fresh from the farm, organic produce. I’ve kept some of these things in my fridge for well over a week (in fact, this bok choy is a good example) and nothing has wilted or gone bad. Can’t say that about any of the produce from the regular grocery store.

So far I’ve received 3 big heads of bok choy so this recipe was born of necessity.

Here’s what you need:

Shrimp, Bok Choy, Onion, Soy Sauce/GF Tamari, Rice Vinegar, Ginger, Chili Garlic Sauce, Brown Sugar, Oil, White Wine, and Fish Sauce (not pictured)

Click here for a Stir Fried Shrimp & Bok Choy Shopping List

Also not pictured is rice, which I suggest for serving. Start that first as it takes 20 minutes and this recipe cooks in half that time.

Thanks to my CSA, I’m branching out and learning to eat all kinds of greens! Here’s one of the other boxes…

Another Daikon Radish (I’m making a salad with one of those tonight), Mustard Greens, Chinese Spinach, Collard Greens, Kale, another Bok Choy, and my favorite….Arugula!!!!

As I mentioned, these fresh veggies hold up really well. However, sometimes the top leaves of the bok choy will get a little wilted in the fridge. Fear not! I’ve learned that almost all greens will plump right back up if you put them in some cold water.

Cut the bottom stem off the bok choy and discard. Cut the rest into largish pieces. Like most greens, this shrinks in the hot pan but the stem parts, which are my favorite, won’t shrink as much as the green leafy parts.

At this point, I put it all in a big bowl of ice water and let it sit for about 15 minutes. This not only plumps it back up, but also cleans out any grit or dirt.

I spun it dry in my salad spinner separating out the stem parts from the leafy parts not only to make spinning easier but also because when they cook, the stem parts take longer than the leaves so I add them first.

Okay, the rest of this goes VERY QUICKLY so be sure you have everything else ready to go. This includes making rice if you want to serve that with your stir fry.

Chop 1/2 of a large onion. You could also add garlic and fresh ginger at this point if you have them. I’m using ginger already grated in a jar and the chili garlic sauce covers my bases for the garlic.

In a small bowl combine 2 Tablespoons soy sauce or gluten free tamari, 2 Tablespoons white wine, 1 Tablespoon rice vinegar, 1 Tablespoon fish sauce, 2 Tablespoons brown sugar, and 1 Tablespoon (or more if you like things spicy) chili garlic sauce.

Stir to combine and to dissolve the sugar and set aside.

Choose a wok or huge skillet. High sides help keep the bok choy contained until it wilts.

Heat 2 Tablespoons of oil (I’m using olive oil but vegetable or peanut would be more traditional) on high heat and add the chopped onion.

Cook the onion, stirring and frying, until it starts to soften – about 2 minutes.

Add 1 pound of big, beautiful peeled and de-veined shrimp and 1 Tablespoon grated ginger to the pan.

Stir and fry quickly – these shrimp only need about 1-2 minutes on each side. Don’t over cook the shrimp here, they will continue to cook with the sauce and the veggies.

Turn the heat down to medium and add the sauce to the pan. Stir to combine with the shrimp.

While the sauce is still boiling, add the bok choy to the pan. I start with the stem sections since they need a few more minutes to soften.

Stir them down into the shrimp and the sauce. You can put a lid on for a minute or two but don’t walk away or this will get soggy.

If you want even more bok choy, add more of the green leafy parts when there is room in your pan.

Once the bok choy has wilted – this only takes about 2 minutes, take the pan off the heat.

Serve over rice and garnish with sesame seeds if you have them.

We love Stir Fried Shrimp & Bok Choy. I even crave it now when I want something light and healthy not to mention QUICK for dinner.

I’ve made a CSA Recipe tab in the category section over on the right side of the screen so if you’re looking for recipes, you can find them in one place. Thanks to my new farmer friends Jen & Shawn at Steed Farm for the amazing vegetables. Joining the CSA has been a great way for us to get more veggies into our diets and try new things. Look for one in your area. It’s fun! If you are a long time CSA member (and I know some of you are) let me know if you have tips and favorite recipes.

Here’s the recipe:  Adapted from Food & Wine

Stir Fried Shrimp & Bok Choy