Maybe the Asian nail tech was on to something when he asked my mother in high school if I was half Chinese. “Yes, my daughter is 5’10, curly haired, annnnd, 1/2 Chinese” Can you imagine (I laugh a bit at the idea)? But I digress… The point, is that my love affair with all things Asian, especially food, sometimes makes me wonder…
This recipe is the result of my Mother’s hip replacement – If you ask me, it’s a small price to pay for such a wonderful and versatile dish. Sorry, Mom – I know you’ll disagree.
After my mom’s surgery awhile back, I went home to visit and was greeted by two refrigerators full of food. All, except for one, were deemed inedible (not because of taste, but because of ingredients) by my standards – however, the one that was edible, was, well, incredible. It was an Asian inspired edamame succotash. Filled with edamame, corn, dried cherries and gourmet mushrooms – topped with an Asian infused marinade – OMG, my mom and I had an all out food-fest with that one.
When I came back to Kansas City, I did some google-ing of such a recipe and quickly found a whole food’s one that closely mimicked what I was looking for. However, I wasn’t a fan of some of the ingredients – such as, sweet chili sauce – i.e., sugar and water, so I did a few modifications/additions to the recipe and viola, it was magical.
I’ve made this about 5 or 6 times in the past couple of months, tweaking it each time to perfection. In the beginning, I stuck to the original salad ingredients of edamame, corn, dried cherries and mushrooms, but as I discovered this weekend, it’s also fabulous as a marinade for bok choy. Plus, nutrient and raw wise, you can’t go wrong with the latter.
Asian Bok Choy
4 cup chopped bok choy
1 T toasted sesame oil
1 T sesame oil
1 T miso (I use yellow)
1 T maple syrup (sub honey or agave)
1 T rice vinegar
1-2 t red curry paste
1/2 tsp fresh ground chili paste
Set chopped bok choy aside. In a separate bowl, whisk remaining ingredients together. Dress bok choy with marinade and place in refrigerator for a few hours – or even better, overnight. When ready to serve, garnish with white and/or black sesame seeds.
Big thanks to Linda for the original dish and inspiration!
