- Bok Choy (aka Xiao Bai Cai)<\/a><\/li><\/ul>
- Choy Sum (aka You Cai)<\/a><\/li>
- Pea Shoots (aka Dou Miao)<\/a><\/li>
- Napa Cabbage (aka Da Bai Cai)<\/a> <\/li>
- Taiwanese Cabbage<\/a><\/li>
- Chives<\/a><\/li>
- Long Beans<\/a><\/li>
- Chinese Broccoli (aka Gai Lan or Jie Lan)<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Chinese are very concerned with their health and vegetables are an important component of a meal. Vegetables can be seen cooked with proteins or as a stand alone dish. Chinese like to eat a variety of vegetables and most vegetables are cooked before eating. Vegetables are often stir fried, blanched, added to soups, or topped with sauce. There are some vegetables that Chinese will pickle and preserve, but we will cover that in another post. I have included links to recipes for these vegetables.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nBok Choy (aka Xiao Bai Cai)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n\n<\/a>
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Fresh Bok Choy<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Fresh Shanghai Bok Choy<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
Bok Choy is getting increasingly popular and is now often sold by non-Asian grocers. There are two common types of bok choy. One with white stems and dark green leaves and one with green stems and lighter green leaves, called Shanghai bok choy. Both types also come in “baby” versions, which just means younger and smaller. Both version are very easy to wash and prepare for cooking, which is a big plus. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n![\"Baby](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.simplyasianhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/BabyBokChoy.jpg?resize=530%2C530&ssl=1\")
Baby Bok Choy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n \n![\"Braised](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.simplyasianhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/MushroomBokChoy.jpg?resize=530%2C530&ssl=1\")
Shanghai Baby Bok Choy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n Recipes for Bok Choy:<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
- Baby Bok Choy Stir Fried with Sesame Oil<\/a><\/li>
- Braised Chinese Mushrooms over Shanghai Bok Choy<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nChoy Sum (aka You Cai)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Choy Sum (aka You Cai) has a long green stem with large leaves. This one is a little harder to find, but usually Chinese grocers will carry this vegetable. This vegetable is best quickly blanched or stir fried without letting the stems get too soft. You want to leave some crunch otherwise it will get tough to eat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n![\"Choy](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.simplyasianhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ChoySum.jpg?resize=750%2C497&ssl=1\")
Fresh Choy Sum<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n![\"Garlic](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.simplyasianhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/GarlicChoySum.jpg?resize=722%2C530&ssl=1\")
Garlic Choy Sum<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n Choy sum (aka you cai) can be often seen accompanying soup noodles or with oyster sauce drizzled on top. Many Chinese restaurants, especially dim sum and noodle restaurants, often offer this vegetable as a dish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Click here for a recipe on garlic stir fried choy sum.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nPea Shoots (aka Dou Miao)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Pea shoots (also known as Dou Miao) are the younger stems and leaves of the snow pea plant. They have a light nutty flavor like peas. When the plant grows big enough, it will produce snow pea pods. However, those leaves and stems become too tough to eat. For this reason, it is important to buy younger snow pea shoots and go through the process of picking off the “older” parts of the stem, the tendrils, and break the stem into bite-size sections. This can be a tedious process, so be prepared for some preparation work when you buy this. You can tell pea shoots are just right when the stems are crisp and can snap in half easily. The work is totally worth it though, because this is one of the more flavorful and delicious vegetables Chinese people like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Click here for instructions on how to prepare pea shoots.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.simplyasianhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Peashoots.jpg?resize=750%2C497&ssl=1\")
Fresh Pea Shoots<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n![\"Pea](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.simplyasianhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/GarlicPeaShoots.jpg?resize=750%2C497&ssl=1\")
Pea Shoots with Garlic<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nNapa Cabbage (aka Da Bai Cai)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Napa cabbage is a versatile vegetable, because it does not have a lot of flavor. These days it can be easily found in everyday grocery stores. It is quite healthy for you, because it has high fiber content, is high in antioxidants and a variety of vitamins. Napa cabbage can also add texture or bulk to a dish. It can absorb flavoring and is delicious raw, slightly cooked, or even braised. Chinese will often use Napa cabbage as an ingredient added to ground pork for dumpling fillings or as part of noodle stir fries. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Napa cabbage is best cooked with something that will provide some flavoring. Click here for an example of Napa cabbage stir fried with dried shrimp.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.simplyasianhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/NapaCabbage.jpg?resize=750%2C449&ssl=1\")
Fresh Napa Cabbage<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n \n![\"Napa](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.simplyasianhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/CabbageShrimp-1.jpg?resize=750%2C688&ssl=1\")
Napa Cabbage with Dried Shrimp<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nTaiwanese Cabbage<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Taiwanese cabbage is different from traditional green cabbage. It has smoother and thicker leaves than green cabbage and is flatter in shape. It’s leaves are light green in color with white interior stem. Taiwanese cabbage is an excellent source of vitamin C, some iron, vitamin B6, calcium, and magnesium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.simplyasianhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/TaiwaneseFlatCabbage.jpg?resize=750%2C497&ssl=1\")
Taiwanese Cabbage<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n \n![\"Cabbage](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.simplyasianhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/HamCabbage.jpg?resize=750%2C497&ssl=1\")
Taiwanese Cabbage and Ham<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n Taiwanese cabbage has a sweet flavor when cooked, but similar to Napa cabbage has a mild flavor. It does require some extra time to cook for the leaves to soften though, so it is not a good candidate for stir fry. The best way to use this vegetable is to put it in soups or use broth to cook and steam the vegetable until tender. It is also best to cook this vegetable with some added flavoring since its own flavor is mild. Click here for a Taiwanese cabbage and ham recipe<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nChives<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.simplyasianhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/GreenChives.jpg?resize=750%2C398&ssl=1\")
Fresh Green Chives<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n \n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.simplyasianhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/YellowChives.jpg?resize=750%2C376&ssl=1\")
Fresh Yellow Chives<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n Chinese eat chives in two common different versions: green and yellow. Chives’ flavor is similar to a cross between scallions and onions. As such, this vegetable can add some onion-scallion flavoring to a dish. Yellow chives are just green chives grown without sunlight and can be more tender and sweeter than the green version. The cooked texture is similar to scallions. Chinese will sometimes cut chives very finely to add as an ingredient to dumpling filling or chop into longer sections to stir fry. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Recipes to cook chives:
- Green chives with eggs<\/a><\/li>
- Yellow chives with pork tenderloin<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
\n\n![\"Scrambled](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.simplyasianhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/EggChives.jpg?resize=530%2C530&ssl=1\")
Scrambled Eggs with Chinese Chives<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n \n![\"Pork](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.simplyasianhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/PorkYellowChives.jpg?resize=530%2C530&ssl=1\")
Pork & Yellow Chives Stir Fry<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nLong Beans<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Chinese long beans are different from traditional green beans. They are very long – in fact, they can grow up to 30 inches long. However, for best flavor they are generally harvested at 12-18 inches long. Chinese long beans are crisp and have a more bean flavor than traditional green beans. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.simplyasianhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ChineseLongBean.jpg?resize=750%2C497&ssl=1\")
Fresh Chinese Long Beans<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n \n![\"Stir](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.simplyasianhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/StirfryLongBeans.jpg?resize=750%2C497&ssl=1\")
Stir Fry Chinese Long Beans<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n Chinese long beans absorb flavoring well if cooked quickly and properly. These beans can become tough if it absorbs too much water, so avoid blanching or boiling these beans. The best way to cook these beans is to stir fry, deep fry, or grill at high heat and then steam for a few minutes to soften slightly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Yellow chives with pork tenderloin<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
- Green chives with eggs<\/a><\/li>
- Braised Chinese Mushrooms over Shanghai Bok Choy<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
- Pea Shoots (aka Dou Miao)<\/a><\/li>
- Choy Sum (aka You Cai)<\/a><\/li>
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.simplyasianhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/GaiLan.jpg?resize=750%2C423&ssl=1\")