Stuffed baby bak choy

Baby bak choy is 3"-7" tall, with white thick, curled stems and very curly dark green leaves. It has never been my favorite because of the acidity in the stem, and the way it is usually cooked, that is in Chinese stir fry. When eaten by itself, the look and the acidity does not quite please my palates. So I decided to think of some different way to make the eating of it more pleasurable. Usually, if the leaves and the stems are cooked together, then by the time the white stems are cooked, the leaves have become slimy. So it's probably a better idea to cook the stems and the leaves separately. Here is an experiment that turns out to be pleasing to the eye and pleasant to taste. The idea is to complement the taste of the stems with something meaty, juicy and weighty. The baby bak choy stems are slightly blanched, then stuffed with a thick filling of white meat, seafood and congee. In my original experiment, I used a leftover congee cooked with rice, meat stock and seafood, which is very flavorful. Here I drafted out a recipe for the case when only cooked rice is available.

Recipe: Stuffed baby bak choy (make 3 as a light dish)


Ingredients:
- 3 stalks of baby bak choy (pick those whose bottom can stand or can be trimmed to stand)
- one long strip of salted kelp, 1/2"x6", soaked
- 4-5 oz cooked chicken or turkey meat
- half a dried scallop, soaked
- 1/4 teaspoon (tp) small dried shrimps, soaked and minced
- 2 small dried anchovy fishes, soaked and minced
- 1/2 dried black mushroom, soaked and minced
- 2 tp cooked rice, boiled in water until completely dissolved into a thick paste (or use 2-3 tablespoon leftover congee)
- a few ears of fresh sweet corn


Procedure:
1. Carefully remove the green parts of each leaf, and the core of each baby bak choy. Save the green leaves for other recipes (such as a salad). Then wash the white parts carefully, using a brush, if necessary, to remove any dirt trapped at the bottom of the stems.
2. Soak salted kelp in water for 20 minutes to remove salt. Then cut to three 1/6"x6" strips.
3. Place soaked scallop, small shrimps, anchovies and black mushroom in a saucer and steam for 5 minutes. In a small saucepan, mix chicken meat, cooked rice, sweet corn ears, and the steamed ingredients. Cook on low to med-low heat until mixture boils and becomes very thick, so that it can stand up as a heap. Turn heat down and let cool until it does not scald the hand.
4. Get a pot of water boiling. Blanch each baby bak choy for about 1 minute or until the white stems start to become a little translucent. Take out of water immediately and let cool on a plate. The bak choy will continue to cook and give out water while cooling.
5. When bak choy can be handled by handle, carefully scoop the white meat fillings into the core of each  bak choy. Then use a strip of kelp to wrap around the white stems and secure them together. Serve right away, or within 1/2 hours. Reheat in oven with water bath or microwave, if necessary.

I served the stuffed baby bak choy on the green leaves, blanched for 2 seconds in boiling water. The green leaves go well with oyster sauce in sesame oil.