crispy seaweed

2 1/4 pounds bok choy
peanut oil for deep frying (about 3 1/2 cups)
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 cup toasted pine nuts

Okay, this is not seaweed but a mock version of fried seaweed. Which I have been served at restaurants before. It kind of looks like the green stuff in Easter baskets, it's very light in texture and the sugar and salt along with the pine nuts is really an interesting combination. I did not make this in my wok , but used my fryer. And I have never used savory cabbage before. In fact this was the first time I have made this. I liked it very well and reminded me of the time I had it in the restaurant, they must have used bok choy also.my fryer was set at 350°F and cooked this amount for 30 seconds. I definitely will be making this again!

Rinse the bok choy leaves under cold running water, then pat dry thoroughly with absorbent paper towels.
Roll each bok choy leave up then sliced through, then lay so that the leaves are finally shredded.

Heat the oil in a large wok (or use a deep fryer as I did.) Add the shredded leaves and fry for about 30 seconds or until they are shriveled up and become crispy. You may need to do this amount in four batches.
Remove the crispy seaweed from the walk with a slotted spoon and set aside to drain on absorbent paper towels.
Transfer the crispy seaweed to a large bowl and toss with the salt, sugar and pine nuts. Serve immediately.
Variation: use savory cabbage instead of bok choy if it is unavailable making sure that the leaves are well dried before frying !


This recipe serves 4

This is BRILLIANT, Guts!

I have all the stuff for it, too!

Do you serve it as a side, a salad, a snack or what?

Lee

BEAUTIFUL!!

Lee it was served as an appetizer at the restaurant I was at. I also think you could add very small pieces like ground meat size of any meat pork, chicken beef, whatever. On one of the other boards that I go to. Someone suggested using spinach. I have no idea if this would work. When doing my research on this, it was implied that the oil would turn green. Therefore rendering it undesirable for reuse. I did not find this to be the case. I'm getting ready to fry up some pork for sweet-and-sour pork right now. Lee if you try it please let me know. I like to know what you think of it.

Kim

Guts said:

Lee it was served as an appetizer at the restaurant I was at. I also think you could add very small pieces like ground meat size of any meat pork, chicken beef, whatever. On one of the other boards that I go to. Someone suggested using spinach. I have no idea if this would work. When doing my research on this, it was implied that the oil would turn green. Therefore rendering it undesirable for reuse. I did not find this to be the case. I'm getting ready to fry up some pork for sweet-and-sour pork right now. Lee if you try it please let me know. I like to know what you think of it.

Kim

Click to expand...

Do you think any other nut would work?

Kim, did you eat it with a fork or .... my favorite .... fingers?

Lee

lilbopeep said:

Do you think any other nut would work?

Click to expand...

sure peeps I wasn't real pleased the way I toasted these as you can see they were a little on the Burn side maybe some broken cashews sunflower seeds pumpkin seeds pistachios? I don't see why you couldn't use anything you like. Have on hand.

Kim

QSis said:

Kim, did you eat it with a fork or .... my favorite .... fingers?

Lee

Click to expand...

I used a fork... could use the hands but remember they were fried in oil

Guts said:

sure peeps I wasn't real pleased the way I toasted these as you can see they were a little on the Burn side maybe some broken cashews sunflower seeds pumpkin seeds pistachios? I don't see why you couldn't use anything you like. Have on hand.

Kim

Click to expand...

I have cashews and sunflower seeds

Kim, the first head of pak choi to get harvested from the MJG garden will be served this way. Thanks for sharing!

Mike

Mr. Green Jeans said:

Kim, the first head of pak choi to get harvested from the MJG garden will be served this way. Thanks for sharing!

Mike

Click to expand...

wow Mike that's quite an honor. I hope you like it. I did.

I think this could also be used as a garnish around an entrée, just thinking out loud here.

Some grilled teriyaki chicken breast strips atop or salmon filets? That's how I roll.

Okay, Guts, I bought a big bag of Shang Hai bok choy today. I separated all the leaves and washed them, drained them, and put them in a bag in the fridge.

You chiffonaded the dark green parts of the leaves, right? But what about the white stems? Did you not use them?

Lee

Lee I didn't use the white part. The leaf if you follow it kind of makes a "V" and that's how I cut it. I saved the white part for stirfry. You are correct just the green part with very little white stem part. But that white part still can be used as I said for stirfry or some kind of vegetable dish maybe even salad. Did you get some pine nuts or you can use another type of nut? I hope you like it. I did. Let me know what you think. Okay... good luck

I already had everything but the bok choy and peanut oil. This will be the first time I've ever cooked with peanut oil.

I have just about every other oil in the universe, LOL!

Lee

QSis said:

I already had everything but the bok choy and peanut oil. This will be the first time I've ever cooked with peanut oil.

I have just about every other oil in the universe, LOL!

Lee

Click to expand...

you don't have to use peanut oil you could use canola whatever oil you like to deep Fry with. I use canola oil in my fryer. It's cheaper

Well, this was kind of fun! The seasonings were great, and the bok choy tasted a little like potato chips. But it was quite greasy, even though I drained it on paper bags. Maybe I should have used paper towels, as Guts said.

I separated the leaves from the stems (saving the stems for something else) and chiffonaded the green leaves.

I fried the leaves in small batches, in a pool of hot peanut oil, in my wok.

Drained the fried leaves, then tossed them with the nuts, sugar and salt (delicious combo!).

Plated as a side dish with my Mom's baked chicken leg and roasted garlic.

Probably would not make it again, but it was fun to try once!

Lee

Lee wow. I believe this is the first recipe I posted that anyone has tried. I did mine in a deep fryer, so I let them drain in the wire basket then transferred to paper towels I found them to be a little on oily side but not that bad. I too liked the salt and sugar combination the next time I want to try some Napa cabbage instead of bok choy. Thanks for posting your results enjoyed reading them.

Kim

So, Kim .... with the leftover "seaweed", I cooked up some quinoa, tossed it with the seaweed, added a splash of olive oil, soy sauce, and green onions.

Wa-la! A delicious cold salad for a couple of lunches at work this week!

Lee

WOW Lee!! Both dishes look awesome!!

QSis said:

So, Kim .... with the leftover "seaweed", I cooked up some quinoa, tossed it with the seaweed, added a splash of olive oil, soy sauce, and green onions.

Wa-la! A delicious cold salad for a couple of lunches at work this week!

Lee

Click to expand...

that looks good interesting. I have to ask about the texture of your bok choy was it really crispy? Mine was so crispy that if you were to push it together. It would almost turn to powder, very light and crispy in texture. When I say light. I mean it didn't weigh very much light as a feather. Was yours this way. Lee please don't take this wrong, but I try not to drain my fried foods on paper.I like to drain my foods on a rack and then maybe transferred to a paper towel.

I just cleaned my fryer and I'm going to try some Napa cabbage next I'll keep you posted on how it turns out.

No, Guts, mine was papery, but like greasy paper. I think it was supposed to be more like confetti, right?

I'm not a good fryer, so I rarely fry anything. I may have not had the oil hot enough, and, yes, draining the stuff on a rack would have been a terrific idea!

Keep us posted on the Napa cabbage!

Lee

Lee I suspect the oil was not hot enough. I checked mine with my new candy and Fry thermometer, and it was 355°F . I put it in the basket and drop it into the oil and immediately covered it. The amount of steam was incredible. LOL. 30 seconds later. I lifted the cover and pull it out of oil and gave it a shake and put it on the hook inside the fryer to let it drain by this time the steam had dissipated. I let it sit there for about a minute gave it another shake and then put it on some new dry paper towels. These are good size paper towels from Costco and I grabbed all four corners as to make a bag out of the paper towels and not to crush the bok choy and then gave it a light shake. Then plated and added my toasted pine nuts. The bok choy kind of felt like that green stuff you see in Easter baskets and was very crisp and light feeling like a feather but crispy. I went back and looked at my pictures and the crispy seaweed (bok choy) did have oil on it but was not as much as to notice. I'm sorry yours didn't come out like mine. I will be trying the Napa cabbage soon and post my results here.

Kim