Leaves and Stems

• Bok choy has the virtue of providing both leafy greens and more substantial vegetable matter in the same plant. Because the white stems are tougher and more dense than the green leaves, they take longer to cook. When sauteeing bok choy, you can either start cooking the stems several minutes before adding the leaves, or add both parts of the plant and the same time, making the stems especially crunchy or the leaves especially tender. Lighter cooking is best for stir fries and more thorough cooking is better for sauteed mixed vegetable dishes.

Adults and Babies

• Bok choy is usually available as either mature plants or babies. Both sizes come from the same plant; they just represent different phases of maturity. The babies are more tender and cook more quickly than the mature plants. Even the stems are tender enough that there's no reason to cook them separately from the leaves. Baby bok choy can be sauteed until tender on medium heat in three to five minutes. The stems of mature bok choy take five to seven minutes to soften on medium heat, and the leaves of the mature vegetable grow tender in three to five minutes.

Judging Doneness

• Sauteed bok choy is usually cooked until tender. The stems should be soft but not fully wilted, and the leaves are best wilted but not fully droopy. Personal preferences range from crispy to buttery, so you can saute your bok choy until it's as firm or soft as you please. Color provides another gauge of doneness, at least for the leaves, which will turn a rich, dark green as they cook, but then begin to lose color. For an optimal middle ground, stop cooking bok choy once its color intensifies and before it starts losing color.

Seasoning Sauteed Bok Choy

• Sauteed bok choy pairs naturally with soy sauce and miso, which hail from the same Asian cuisines. Add soy sauce or miso to sauteed bok choy after the cabbage is mostly cooked, or add a little soy sauce early on to moisten the dish without using extra oil. Sauteed bok choy also works well with mushrooms, garlic and ginger.