Name: Pak Choy and Blood Orange Salad
Prep time: 10 min
Total time: 10 min
Ingredients: 320 grams pak choy or baby bok choy1 ((1 bunch)); 120 grams carrots ((1 medium)); 280 grams blood oranges ((2 medium)); 140 grams orange ((1 medium)); 2 green onions ((optional)); 1 tbsp sesame seeds toasted; Sea salt and cracked black pepper.; 3 tbsps neutral oil; 3 tbsps Asian sesame oil; 3 tbsps rice vinegar; 1 tbsp thin soy sauce; 1 tbsp sesame seeds ((toasted)); 1 tsp black sesame seeds ((or Nigella seeds)); 1 tsp honey; 2 tbsps peanuts or cashews ((roasted))

If you haven't tried raw pak choy then you are in for a real treat in this salad, it is just wonderfully crunchy and tastes sooo fresh.

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Raw, crisp pak choy with its slight cabbagey, spinach-like taste worked just beautifully with the juicy blood oranges and crunchy peanuts. The aromatic sesame dressing truly sealed the flavour deal.

A salad that comes together fairly quickly so would be good for weeknight dinners.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BOK CHOY AND PAK CHOY

Pak choy is also referred to as Shanghai bok choy. It has light-green, spoon-shaped leaves and pale yellow-green stalks. You will also find baby pak choy which is smaller and much more tender.

Bok Choy literally means “white vegetable” in Cantonese. It has leaves that are dark-green, tender and crisp, while the stalks are white, crunchy, firm and juicy. It has a mild flavour similar to chard.

So, the difference is that pak choy has light green leaves and stalks while bok choy has white stalks and darker green leaves.

How to make Pak Choy Salad

1Prepare the vegetables and oranges
Rinse the pak choy or baby bok choy under cold running water. Remove any wilted or damaged leaves and trim off and discard the bottom of the bulb. Cut each pak choy in half and the slice on the diagonal into
1 cm (½ inch strips). Transfer to a large mixing bowl.

Wash and peel the carrots, cut off the tops and ends then slice into ribbons using a y-peeler or vegetable peeler. Transfer to your mixing bowl.

Peel your blood and navel oranges, remove the pith and any pits that you come across, then dice. Transfer to your mixing bowl.

If you are using the green onions, wash them, remove the root ends and any damaged leaves, then slice thinly on the diagonal. Transfer to your mixing bowl.

Washing pak choy under cold water in the sink. — WASH YOUR PAK CHOY LEAVES

Diagonally cutting pak choy on a wooden board with a knife. — WASH YOUR PAK CHOY LEAVES

2Toast the seeds
Preheat your oven to 180C (350F). Place them on a baking tray lined with baking in the middle section of your oven and roast until golden brown (approximately 8-10 minutes) be careful not to burn them.
Take them out of the oven and allow to cool.
Make a cup or more as you can keep toasted seeds in a glass jar and store in your fridge to use the next time you need them.

Raw sesame seeds on a lined baking tray. — PLACE SESAME SEEDS ON A BAKING TRAY

Toasted sesame seeds on a lined baking tray. — PLACE SESAME SEEDS ON A BAKING TRAY

3Shake-up the vinaigrette
In a clean glass jar place the oils, rice vinegar, soy sauce, the honey and the cooled sesame seeds.
Shake until emulsified this means that the ingredients will combine and become a smooth mixture.

Sesame seed vinaigrette ingredients in a glass jar. — ADD INGREDIENTS TO A GLASS JAR

Shaken sesame seed dressing in a jar. — ADD INGREDIENTS TO A GLASS JAR

4Assemble your salad
Pour your dressing over your salad, add the sesame seeds, then season with salt and pepper, mix until well combined. Taste and adjust seasonings according to your taste.
Arrange in a salad bowl, scatter the peanuts on top to garnish. Serve and enjoy.

Prepared pak choy salad ingredients in a white bowl. — ADD ALL INGREDIENTS TO A BOWL

Mixing pak choy salad in a white bowl with tongs. — ADD ALL INGREDIENTS TO A BOWL

Make ahead tips for Pak Choy Salad

You can prepare your vegetables and dressing the day before and simply assemble just before serving.
If you keep your carrot curls in water and strain just before adding to your salad it will give them some added cool crunch.
This salad should be eaten fresh as the leaves will become soggy if left out for too long.

How to food prep this salad

To food prep this salad for your lunches just keep the dressing separate and add to your salad just before serving.
Great with some grilled chicken breasts or store-bought char siu pork slices or even some tinned black beans as a vegan option.

Serving Suggestions

This flavour-packed Asian style salad partners well with any grilled firm-fleshed fish such as salmon, swordfish or tuna, also great with char siu pork or 5-spice chicken.

Try pak choy salad with your next stir-fry or as a nice change at a barbecue. We served ours with some Asian style baked salmon for a quick family dinner.