This Bok Choy Shiitake Mushrooms Stir Fry is an easy veggie side dish that is also delicious! The flavor the shiitake mushrooms add to the bok choy is perfect!

What is Bok Choy?

Bok choy (aka pak choi or pok choi) is a type of Chinese cabbage but unlike regular cabbages, they do not form heads and have leafy greens with bulbs at the bottoms.

Some describe the flavor as somewhere between spinach and water chestnuts with a slight hint of sweet and peppery undertone.

If you’re looking for more bok choy recipes – check out these:

• Bok Choy Stir Fry with Dried Shrimp
• Bok Choy Beech Mushrooms Stir Fry
• Shrimp Bok Choy Stir Fry
• Shanghai Bok Choy Stir Fry with Garlic
• Bok Choy with Garlic Sauce
• Or check out this round up of all the Delicious Bok Choy Recipes!

If you’re interested in learning more about Chinese veggies – here’s a whole article on various Chinese vegetables such as snow peas, celtuce, sweet potato leaves, chinese broccoli and more!

Shiitake Mushrooms

One of my favorite mushrooms to use in Asian recipes! Shiitake originates from China and Japan, and is super flavorful. They’re more dense, similar to portobello mushrooms, and have an earthy, almost smokey flavor compared to the other mushrooms.

I commonly use dried shiitake mushrooms in soups to add a delicious flavor to the broth, but you can also use fresh shiitake mushrooms for stir frying or any other dishes.

Dried Shiitake Mushrooms

For this recipe – I am using dried shiitake mushrooms. This is because they have a stronger flavor (think sun dried tomatoes vs fresh tomatoes), and I’m just trying to add flavor to the bok choy dish.

However, you can totally use fresh shiitake mushrooms too, or you can use half of each!

You can usually find this in your local Asian super market. Sometimes you can also find in Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods, nowadays I even see them in Publix and Kroger.

If you can’t find any in your local grocery store, shiitake mushrooms are actually also sold on amazon!

Also, if you’re looking for some recipes for shiitake mushrooms check out my Shiitake Mushrooms Stir Fry with Peppers or Shiitake Mushrooms Napa Cabbage Stir Fry.

Chinese vegetables and Mushrooms variety

By the way, there’s a giant variety of vegetables in Chinese cuisine, and Shanghai bok choy is only one of them! If you are a fan of veggies, then you’re also going to enjoy Yu Choy, Chinese Broccoli, Red Amaranth, Malabar Spinach, Snow Pea Shoots and more!

There’s also a huge variety of mushrooms out there too! So if you’re interested in learning more, check out my article on Different Types of Mushrooms (and Recipes!)

How to cook Bok Choy with Shiitake Mushrooms?

First gather your ingredients:

• 2 tbsp cooking oil of choice
• 3-4 cloves of garlic, smashed and cut in half
• 3 bunches of Bok Choy
• 1 cup of dried shiitake mushrooms, cut in to bite size*
• Salt, as desired

Cut off the very end of your bok choy with a knife and discard.

Now, bok choys can vary in size, so you may cut the bok choys a little differently depending on the bunches you got. But our goal here is to separate the whites from the leafy green parts for the larger bunches. If they’re small enough, you can even ignore this step. Cut the white pieces about inch length.

Rinse shiitake mushrooms and soak it in a bowl of water for about 15 minutes or until soft; do not discard the water.

Heat oil in a large skillet or wok over high heat.  Add the garlic and dried shiitake mushrooms that are now softened, and stir fry for about a minute.

Then start adding the bok choy – if you separated them, add the white ones first, and then stir fry for about a minute before you add the green leafy bits. If you didn’t separate them, you can just throw all of it in. If you choose to also add fresh shiitake mushrooms, add them now.

Stir fry the bok choy and shiitake mushrooms for about a minute, and then add the water you used to soak shiitake mushrooms. This will add an extra delicious flavor!

Continue to stir fry for a couple more minutes or until everything is tender – bok choy should be vibrant green.

Remove from heat and serve!

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