I went to H Mart Korean/American Supermarket and got some interesting garlic stems….I’ve heard of garlic stems but didn’t buy them till today.

I washed a piece off to see what it is like.

Raw – it’s much more tender and sweet than I thought it would be. It does taste like sweet roasted garlic too! I thought it would go well with bok choy in an Asian type of sauce.

I was SMART….I like cooking the bok choy healthy style instead of fried because it comes out good blanched in water seasoned with a little sesame oil. I figured that I can blanch the garlic stems first in the same water to give the water a little garlic taste.

Then I made the sauce and it came to me that chestnuts would be delicious with these flavors and that is how this dish came to be. Serving size is difficult to judge because I don’t know if you want this as a meal or with lots of rice or as a side dish. I think this will make between 4 – 6 servings depending on portion.

Ingredients for around 4 servings

1 lb bok choy – cut in half long ways

1 lb garlic stems – trim off any dried end and cut in edible lengths ( around 1 1/2 inches)

2 teaspoons sesame oil

2-3 Tablespoons gochujang – preferably purchased from an Asian Market (it will taste better….also the different brands taste different) (I buy the one from Korea that comes in tubes and use a whole tube)

1 Tablespoon honey

1 teaspoon soy sauce

1 1/2 teaspoon rice wine vinegar

7 oz roasted chestnuts – slightly crushed

2 Tablespoons chives for garnishing

1 Tablespoon toasted sesame seeds for garnishing

Directions

In a small mixing bowl add the gochujang, honey, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar and chestnuts.

Fill a sauce pot around halfway high with water and the sesame oil to boil. add the garlic stems. Boil them around 2 minutes but no more than 3 minutes. Remove after cooked and drain. In the same boiling water add the bok choy bulb end into the water. Let the bulbs boil around three minutes then stir the tops in the water for only a second or two to wilt. When cooked drain. Mix in the gochijang sauce and top with chives and sesame seeds. Serve.

Enjoy!