Cook Bok Choy In Bacon Grease For An Unbeatable Combination

If you're the type who is already thinking about dinner before you even finish preparing breakfast, then this advice is especially for you. Say you've just cooked up a lovely skillet of sizzling bacon, and the drippings are just sitting there, waiting to congeal. Think fast and reserve some of this leftover bacon grease to use for cooking bok choy. What better way to prepare dinner than with delicious leftovers from breakfast?

Bok choy cooked in bacon grease is a perfect combination that makes a versatile side dish or even a simple snack. Why does this combination work so well? Like broccoli and kale, bok choy is a cruciferous vegetable with a leafy green look and immense nutritional benefits. It has a generally mild cabbage-like taste with some slight bitterness and a high water content in its stalk. Keeping this in mind, melding the more plain flavor of bok choy with the bold, smoky flavor of bacon grease will work together as the bok choy takes on the dominant bacon flavor profile, gaining an extra savory kick. With a smoke point of 325 degrees Fahrenheit, bacon fat sits right between that of butter and olive oil, making it an ideal grease for sauteing.

Consider adding this bacon and bok choy dish to your lineup of staple sides. In addition to a winning flavor combination, mixing in a handful of chili flakes and a dash of paprika will turn up the heat. In this recipe for stir-fried bok choy, you can use bacon grease in lieu of the sesame oil to elevate the flavor profile and pair nicely with the elements of ginger, garlic, and oyster sauce. Another option is a generous shake of furikake seasoning sprinkled over everything. This cooked bok choy will go great with fish, chicken, or any other lean proteins, on its own, or even alongside other vegetables in any number of different mixed stir-fry dishes.

Looking at a wide variety of bok choy recipes, it's easy to see how bacon grease can be implemented to amplify flavor while complementing other similar savory flavors. Bok choy makes the perfect base vegetable for experimenting with different seasonings and more both because of its mild taste and the fact that it cooks so quickly. Chopped bok choy will cook in no more than one to two minutes when stir frying, meaning it will be ready to eat and enjoy before you know it.