Bok Choy

Kimchi can be made and eaten any time of the year, but I really crave it in the spring. In this recipe, the kimchi and assorted quick-pickled vegetables are the dominant flavors, making a bright-tasting, tangy bowl. Pickling chard stems is a great way to use them up—they’ll add bits of celery-like crunch, and using rainbow chard means lots of extra color, too. Furthermore, the pickled components and the sautéed chard both keep well, meaning that they can be made in advance or packed up as good leftovers. Let the toppings come to room temperature before serving, so that they don’t cool down the bowl drastically when you stir all the ingredients together.

A robust soup brimming with mixed vegetables and protein in a rich dashi broth, this one-pot stew is eaten by Japanese wrestlers in training. It’s wonderfully hearty without being heavy.

Chicken soup with a head-clearing kick and a generous dose of seasonal veggies will sooth all that ails you.

Check your authenticity meter at the door: This is the speediest, least traditional—and most fun—ramen ever invented.

Roast bok choy and shrimp marinated in honey and soy in a hot oven while a pot of kimchi rice steams on the stovetop for a nearly hands-off, flavor-packed dinner.

BOILING OR STEAMING bok choy often results in a watery, stringy vegetable. But grilling halved heads of bok choy slathered with miso butter leads to pure flavor. Be sure to keep the heat at medium so the paste can caramelize without burning. My first few attempts at grilling bok choy (I used Shanghai bok choy) resulted in charred leaves that were too crisp to enjoy. Now I separate the leaves from the stalks and use them raw in a salad that wilts under the heat of the grilled vegetable. Use white or yellow miso paste in this recipe. If you use a darker miso, know that it will be saltier. Make this side dish when you are already firing up the grill for the main course.

Sesame seeds have a powerful antidepressant effect and provide the basis for this healthy, restorative dinner.

Get your pan nice and hot. If you have a cast-iron skillet, now's the time to use it.

We like skirt steak because it's a tasty and affordable cut. Slice it thinly so it's tender.

Sake-infused flounder fillets cook over a bed of pan-seared bok choy in this simple, one-skillet dinner.

Salmon, bok choy, ginger, and garlic are packed in foil and cooked on the grill for an easy dinner from Epicurious member Maggieingl. Sake and soy sauce create steam within the foil pack so be cautious when opening them—the steam can be extremely hot right off the grill. Add fluffy jasmine rice for an inventive midweek feast.

Consider this colorful dish a step in the direction of rescuing the true Southeast Asian satay from its overdone-chicken-on-a-stick reputation. Tender shrimp, bright bok choy, and sweet stone fruit, all grilled together, make for a nontraditional but nonetheless scrumptious complement to a sauce that strikes the perfect sweet, spicy balance.