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Dehydrate Bok Choy

18 years ago

Does anyone have an experience dehydrating Bok Choy. I grew too much in the garden this year and now I need a way to save it.

Should I cook it first, blanch it, do I need some lemon juice so that the leaves don't turn brown or something. Any help would be appreciated.

I've used my dehydrator in the past mostly for tomatoes and peppers.

Here is a link that might be useful: Bok Choy

Comments (8)

  • 18 years ago

    Its one of those vegetables that will turn to mush when frozen, and if dried might be very stringy. I am afraid that it would not preserve well in any situation by itself. Maybe you can chop it all up, add some shrimp, cooked chicken, or pork, and other Chinese veggies, and make a big batch of egg rolls. Partially fry them and then chill and freeze. In that way, no matter its texture it will be contained in a nice wrapper. Egg roll skins are cheap and easy to find in supermarkets. Add a bit of finely chopped ginger, some garlic, and of course some Clear Gel or corn starch to the filling, so that once it cooks it will not be watery inside . I made egg rolls stuffed with pork fried rice. Quite a taste!

  • 18 years ago

    Bok choy makes good kim chee, if you like kim chee.

    I found a recipe for dry bok choy soup, and the author of the recipe said that her mother used to blanch it.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Dried Bok Choy Soup

  • 18 years ago

    Oooh, egg rolls sound like a good idea, thanks.

    Do you think it would be worth it to dry a few as a test and see how stringy they get. I would only be using the dried bok choy for stir frys so maybe it won't be so bad.

  • 18 years ago

    I rather think that stir fry would be the last thing you would want to do with dehydrated veggies of any kind.

    But, if you have a bunch of Bok Choy that you can't eat and can't give away, it certainly wouldn't hurt to dehydrate some to play with. After all, it doesn't cost much to run a dehydrator for a few hours. Some of my best recipes have come from experimentation, so I say go for it.

  • 18 years ago

    Hm, I haven't used bok choy much, but I imagine you can probably treat it like cabbage. Perhaps make up some casseroles and/or soups for the freezer? I've certainly frozen vegetable soup that has cabbage in it before. The texture is nothing to write home about when it's thawed, but it's a soup so it doesn't much matter!

  • 18 years ago

    Yes, try a bit dried. As to a stir fry and using the dried, it would not be very tender, unless it was first rehydrated and thenj added to a stor fry. Even for that, the veggie has a delicate flavor a lot less than true cabbage, so ot may be better to make some fresh meals with it and freeze. The last time I made egg rolls, it was a batch of over 100, and took all day to make. They lasted many months in the freezer. This time, I need to make a big batch of Peking ravioli which is just ground pork with some garlic and ginger, and a pasta dough for the hand formed shells. I get pretty good at making them.

  • 15 years ago

    Dried bok choy is very common among Chinese and even has its own name which sounds a little like "toy goon". It can be purchased at asian supermarkets, and in Chinese areas you will see it hanging on string to dry all over the place. My mom used to make it. What she did was boil it until it is limp, then hang it out on a string until dry. It is used for "toy goon" soup and has a distinctly differently flavor than fresh bok choy.

  • 11 years ago

    You would not like Bok Choy dehydrated or any cabbage over all. I agree with most everyone here to make soups etc. I am making KimChi with mine. I may can some of the Bok Choy as well. However, what I do with leafy veggies sometimes is to go ahead and dehydrate it. Grind it into a powder and add it to a spice collection. Works really well. Anything you are not sure about. Just take a few things and do a test dehydrate. Experiment and have fun.