Pork and Bok Choy Stir-Fry: Easy Weeknight Supper

This pork and bok choy stir-fry is a quick and flavorful meal perfect for a busy weeknight dinner. If you’re tired of cooking pork chops the same basic ways, this is a nice change of pace! And it is a great way to use fresh local bok choy.

Stir-frying is a good, quick-cooking method suited for weekdays. But sometimes I start putting so many different veggies into the dish, the chopping can get to be more of a chore than I want midweek. This Pork and Bok Choy Stir-Fry keeps things simple. Simplicity is certainly key for a good weekday supper.

I originally created this recipe with 1 large bok choy. I recently came back and updated this recipe with bok choy from our local CSA farm share. This was one of the items in our first CSA pickup of 2022, which we covered in one of our first Cook Local Eat Local podcast episodes.

Keeping with the local theme, we used pork chops from our Walden Local Meat share.

This dish packs a lot of flavor. You don’t have to tell your family how easy it is! That can be our little secret…

Be sure to get everything cut up in advance of starting to stir-fry. The cooking process is fast and requires frequent stirring. As you start chopping, start cooking some rice or couscous to serve with the dish.

Jump to:

• Main ingredients
• Recipe steps overview
• Wine pairing
• Recipe card
• More weekday recipe ideas

Main ingredients

Here’s an overview of the main ingredients in our pork and bok choy stir-fry recipe. The recipe card has the full list of ingredients.

Bok Choy is a leafy green vegetable also known as Chinese cabbage. When you use bok choy, it is almost like two different veggies in terms of texture, as you get the leafy greens, and a nice crunch from the stems.

I originally made this dish with one large bok choy plant. More recently, we had a bunch of baby bok choy that we used. Both options work well. Use whichever you have available or prefer.

Pork chops: This recipe calls for two pork chops. Boneless pork chops are easier for cutting the meat you need for the recipe. Keep in mind that pork chops are a lean cut, and cook quickly. Avoid overcooking them.

You could try pork tenderloin, note that it would cook even faster. I’ve made stir-fries with ground pork, such as this ground pork stir-fry with collard greens. You could combine elements of the two dishes if you wanted to use ground pork with bok choy. e.g. you wouldn’t start by cooking the pork if you had ground meat.

Colored bell peppers: I like to use a combination of two peppers for more color. We used red and orange peppers most recently.

Summer squash we originally used a summer squash as we had one on hand we were trying to use. I wouldn’t get one just for this recipe, but go ahead and add one if you have it on hand.

Soy sauce drives the flavor of the sauce, along with fresh chopped scallions. With the other ingredients added, it tastes a bit like a teriyaki sauce.

Recipe steps overview

Here’s a visible overview of how to make this bok choy stir-fry with pork chops. Head to the recipe card for the full information.

Chop the vegetables before you start cooking when making stir-fry! We start by chopping the bok choy. In this case, we were using baby bok choy. You can use the whole bok choy plant. Start by cutting off the very bottom of the stock — about ¼ inch. Then cut the white stem portion into small, thin slices.

Then coarsely chop the leaves.

Chop the colored bell beppers and onions.

Set the vegetables aside.

Make the sauce by combining the sauce ingredients (soy sauce, sugar, vinegar, garlic, chopped scallions and optional ginger) in a small bowl. Set the sauce aside.

Prepare the pork chops. Start by placing the pork chops on a cutting board, with a sharp knife ready at hand.

Safety tip: after cutting the vegetables, use a different cutting board and knife for the raw meat.

Slice the pork with a sharp knife. First trim and discard any excess fat. Then cut the lean pork into strips about ½ inch thick.

Heat a wok or skillet on medium high with the cooking oil. When it is hot, add the pork slices.

Stir occasionally, and cook the pork for about two minutes until it has started turning white on the outsides.

After the pork is mostly white on the outsides, remove to a plate with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Return the pan to high heat and add the onions, adding a bit more oil if necessary. Cook for a minute or two while stirring, then add the peppers.

Cook for another minute or two.

Add the bok choy gradually in batches to the pan so it will start cooking down and fit. Stir frequently.

Cook until the greens start to wilt, which will take a minute or two.

Stir the pork back into the skillet, then stir in the sauce.

Reduce heat to medium, then cover the pan. Cook the pork and bok choy stir-fry for about 3 minutes until the pork is just cooked through.

Remove the cover then stir the dish. If the pork is cooked through (mostly white), the bok choy and pork stir-fry is ready to serve!

Wine pairing

I didn’t note what wine I served with this pork and bok choy stir-fry originally. But I see what wine in the photos, and I’d guess Riesling. That’s a go-to white wine option for Asian style dishes, and it goes well with pork.

More recently, I got more creative and opened a bottle of the 2021 Two Shepherds Skin Fermented Pinot Gris ($32, 12.1% ABV). “Skin fermented” means the white wine grape Pinot Gris is made more like a red wine, with skin contact during the wine making process, giving it the color.

Such wines are often called “orange wines” but as you can see, the wine looks more like a rosé than “orange”.

I didn’t get notes down on this interesting Pinot Gris, but the winery description of it being somewhat between a rosé and a more typical “orange wine” (which can tend to be somewhat funky) is accurate.

I do recall that I enjoyed the wine and the pairing! Give it a try if you get a chance.

Fellow wine blogging friends had been extolling the virtues of the Sonoma based Two Shepherds Winery for quite awhile before I got around to trying their wines recently. I’m glad I did! This small, Sonoma based winery focuses on Rhone varietals and other interesting grapes, and make all their wines with native yeast. Definitely worth checking out!

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Recipe card

More weekday recipe ideas

We originally shared this recipe as part of a collection of suggested weekday supper recipes from a group of bloggers. Here’s the list:

• Monday – Duck Breasts with Pomegranate Sauce by Confessions of a Culinary Diva
• Tuesday – Bacon and Potato Hash by Cindy’s Recipes and Writings
• Wednesday – Pork and Bok Choy Stir-Fry by Cooking Chat You are here!
• Thursday – Tuna Rice Bowl by kimchi MOM
• Friday – Gluten Free Chicken and Rice Soup by Gluten Free Crumbley