Tender leafy greens topped with a savory garlic sauce. This quick and easy Chinese Garlic Yu Choy is a delicious vegetable side dish ready in 10 minutes with minimal ingredients! A great way to add fibre to your diet and it's restaurant quality.
Jump to:
Chinese Garlic Yu Choy features blanched yu choy with a garlicky brown sauce packed with flavor! You'll often find a variation of this yummy vegetable dish at Chinese restaurants.
I love serving it with steamed rice and a protein (see more pairing suggestions below) and it's one of my favorite ways to add nutritious veggies to my meals.
You'll love this easy vegetable side dish recipe because it's:
- quick and easy to cook in 10 minutes!
- made in one-pan with simple ingredients.
- a tasty way to add fibre to your diet.
- great for the family including picky eaters!
- better-than-takeout.
- great for meal preparation!
What is Yu Choy? Yu Choy (a.k.a. 'Yu Choy Sum' or 'Choy Sum') is an leafy green with a tender stalk, dark green leaves and tiny yellow flowers available at most Asian supermarkets.
It tastes sweeter than bok choy and gai-lan and originates from China before the 15th century! Yu choy is not as popular as the other mentioned greens in America, but it's very popular in Asia.
Of all the Asian greens, I enjoy this one the most as it's the easy to prepare, sweet, not overpowering and a family favorite!
Ingredients & Substitutes
Please scroll down to below recipe card for exact measurements.
- Yu Choy (a.k.a. Yu Choy Sum or Choy Sum): choose between Adult or Young yu choy at the Asian grocer. Young yu choy has thinner stalks so reduce blanching time. Or substitute with bok choy or gai-lan.
Neutral Cooking Oil: like avocado oil, sunflower oil, grapeseed oil, peanut oil, vegetable oil or canola oil with a high smoke point. Avoid olive oil or coconut oil.
Garlic Sauce
- Garlic Cloves
- Regular Soy Sauce: or substitute with low sodium soy sauce or light soy sauce. If you're gluten-free, substitute with tamari sauce, coconut aminos or a gluten-free soy sauce.
- Oyster Sauce: or substitute with vegetarian stir-fry sauce. If you're gluten-free, substitute with a gluten-free version.
- Shaoxing Wine: a Chinese rice cooking wine available at Asian grocers. If you're gluten-free, substitute with dry sherry wine, dry white wine or chicken broth.
- White Granulated Sugar: or substitute with cane sugar.
- Sesame Oil: or substitute with ½ teaspoon sesame seeds.
- Cornstarch: or substitute with potato starch or tapioca starch.
- Water: cold or room temperature.
Note: Most Asian grocery stores will carry most of the Asian specific ingredients or check online stores, like Amazon.
Expert Tips
- Source fresh yu choy with vibrant green leaves and stalks. The leaves should not be yellowing or have holes in them. If they do, find a fresher batch.
- Feel free to chop the yu choy into smaller segments before blanching for easier consumption if you wish.
- Wash the yu choy a few times ensuring there is no dirt or insects caught between the stalks or leaves.
- Prepare ingredients in advance as the cooking process is fast!
- Blanch the yu choy until the stalks are softened but do not over do it or the leaves will become too softened.
Instructions
Below are step-by-step instructions on how to make garlic yu choy:
- Rinse the trimmed yu choy under cold running water until it runs clear. Wash between the leaves to remove dirt or insects. Then strain out the water.
- In a small bowl or cup, combine the garlic sauce ingredients as listed above. Set aside.
- Fill a large wok or pot with enough water and add vegetable oil. Bring to a boil on high heat, blanch yu choy until vibrant green and stalks are tender, about 1.5 to 2 minutes.
- Strain the greens in a colander and then transfer to a large serving plate. Set aside.
- Heat a dry wok or small to medium pan over medium heat. Pour in the sauce and simmer to thicken, about 30 seconds.
- Pour the garlic sauce over the greens. Serve and mix the greens with the sauce to enjoy!
Storage & Reheating
- Leftovers will last up to 4 days stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. To reheat: microwave for 2-3 minutes until hot or reheat in a pan on medium heat.
- Freezer friendly? I don't recommend freezing cooked garlic yu choy as the greens will turn mushy after reheating.
Pairing Suggestions
Garlic yu choy serves well with:
- starters like egg rolls, crab rangoons, egg drop soup, hot and sour soup
- white or brown rice, cauliflower rice, or fried rice
- beef chow mein, chow mein, lo mein, plain noodles, soup noodles
- protein dishes like Sweet and Sour Chicken, String Bean Chicken, Mongolian Beef, Bang Bang Shrimp, Shrimp Omelet, Soy Garlic Tofu, and more!
FAQ
Garlic yu choy can be made up to 4 days in advance and stored in an airtight container in the fridge. To reheat, microwave or in a pan on the stovetop on medium heat until hot.
No, you can omit the oil, but it helps the greens prevents moisture loss and maintains freshness.
You can make this spicy by mixing in 1-2 teaspoon of chili oil or red chili flakes into the sauce mixture.
More like this
📖 Recipe
10-min. Easy Chinese Garlic Yu Choy
Ingredients
- 1 lb Yu Choy Sum or bok choy / gai-lan, stalk ends trimmed
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil or any neutral oil
Garlic Sauce
- 5 garlic cloves minced
- 1 tablespoon regular soy sauce or light soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon oyster sauce or vegetarian stir-fry sauce
- 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine or dry sherry wine / dry white wine / chicken stock
- 2 teaspoon white granulated sugar or cane sugar
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch potato starch or tapioca starch
- ¼ cup water cold or room temperature
Instructions
- Rinse the trimmed yu choy under cold running water until it runs clear. Wash between the leaves to remove dirt or insects. Then strain out the water.
- In a small bowl or cup, combine the garlic sauce ingredients as listed above. Set aside.
- Fill a large wok or pot with enough water and add vegetable oil. Bring to a boil on high heat, blanch yu choy until vibrant green and stalks are tender, about 1.5 to 2 minutes.
- Strain the greens in a colander and then transfer to a large serving plate. Set aside.
- Heat a dry wok or small to medium pan over medium heat. Pour in the sauce and simmer to thicken, about 30 seconds.
- Pour the garlic sauce over the greens. Serve and mix the greens with the sauce to enjoy!
Notes
Storage & Reheating
-
- Leftovers will last up to 4 days stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. To reheat: microwave for 2-3 minutes until hot or reheat in a pan on medium heat.
-
- Freezer friendly? I don't recommend freezing cooked garlic yu choy as the greens will turn mushy after reheating.
MJ Strong
Perfect and quick!
christieathome
Thanks so much for making my recipe!
Ron
We love the Korean market we found years ago near us. Yu choy is one of our favorites and this recipe is a simple starting point. You can do so much with Asian vegetables.
christieathome
Yes absolutely! Yu choy is such a great and delicious way to get in our greens. Thanks for your review and so glad you enjoyed it!
Heidi | The Frugal Girls
This is such a fabulous way to incorporate more veggies into weeknight dinners with just a few easy ingredients!
Nancy Stassinopoulos
I’ve never made yu choy before. It was in my CSA box, so I searched for recipes and found this one. Even my husband liked it, and he is picky about greens. I’ll look for yu choy and make it again. I served it over rice with air fryer tofu.
christieathome
Thank you so much for your kind review Nancy! I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe of mine!
Kyla
This looks incredibly delicious! I've never tried Yu Choy, but now I definitely need to. Always looking for delicious ways to eat more green veggies. Thanks for sharing!
Rosemary
I love learning about different veggies! I have heard of bok choy and baby bok choy, but I have never heard of this one before!
Alex
I just love green veggie side dishes - especially those with garlic! How tasty!
Sherri
Love the flavors in this 10-minute side dish! I haven't had yu choy before so I better get to it! 🙂