liuzhou

@gfweb Here are the two side by side.

Vegetables are relatively cheap, but when you compare you have to remember that incomes in China are a lot lower than the USA. It's not a simple exchange rate calculation. You have to look at price as a percentage of average income to really compare.

I've made and posted this before, but no apologies. It is different every time. Pork marinated with olive oil, lemon juice and zest, garlic, crushed coriander seeds, chilli and salt. Stir fried until cooked through, then scallions added. Served with a tomato, onion and basil salad with a lemon vinaigrette and rice. Sadly, probably the last basil of the year, unless I can nurture some cuttings I have made and re-rooted today. Depends on the weather.

Now for an easy one. I'm exhausted! Spinacia oleracea I never associated spinach with Chinese cuisine until I got there. Now I learn that China grows 85% of the world's supply. One thing I like about China is that all the vegetables here are only available seasonally; out-of-season supplies flown halfway across the world are very unusual. And spinach has just started to reappear in the last week. In Chinese, 菠菜 (Mand: bō cài; Cant: bo1 coi3).

苗 (Mand: miáo; Cant: miu4) means 'seedling; shoot; young plant'.

Here is a weird one. Again, it looks similar to choy sum, but goes by the name of 菜花 (Mand: cài huā; Cant: coi3 faa1), literally meaning 'vegetable flowers'. Unfortunately, exactly the same name is used for cauliflower and two sexually transmitted diseases. Do not search for Google pictures of this vegetable; you will only get cauliflowers and STDs). To continue the sexual connection this is the leaves and flowers of rape. Nothing to do with sexual violence. Rape is the source of rapeseed oil aka Canola. The name is derived from the Latin 'rapus' meaning 'turnip', a closely related plant. It also comes in a red stemmed variety. 红菜花/紅菜花 (Mand: hóng cài huā; Cant: hung4 coi3 faa1).

That would be great. By the way here is a better picture showing the flatter version of the round cabbages you commented on earlier.

I thought the same at first, but the same supermarket also sells 油菜 (Mand: yóu cài; Cant: jau4 coi3) which is Yu Choy or Yu Choy Sum - Rapeseed Veg.. I can't think they would have two if they are the same thing. I'll get to the 油菜 (Mand: yóu cài; Cant: jau4 coi3) soon. Tomorrow, I'll try to get a picture of the two together,so we can compare.

I don't think so. The leaves are noticeably different. The 'large' in the name refers to the cabbage not the leaves. The two cabbages are the same size.

I read that The Cleaver Quarterly have started a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds to produce a set of 52 cards depicting the Chinese vegetables. 52? OK, that's the number of cards in a standard deck of playing cards, but... I have more than 52 on my list that I'm working through here and that is just the leaf vegetables! Wait until I get to the root and vegetable fruits, gourds etc. I'm just jealous that I didn't think of Kickstarter! 😭

Brassica rapa var. parachinensis or Brassica chinensis var. parachinensis Sometimes referred to as "Chinese flowering cabbage" (although all cabbages flower if left to their own devices) or Choy sum. In Chinese it is, 菜心 (Mand: cài xīn; Cant: coi3 sam1) which means 'vegetable heart'. Usually simply stir fried with garlic. Sometimes then finished with oyster sauce. It is also used in hot pots. There is another version with slightly larger leaves and few flowers. This is known as 油菜心 (Mand: yóu cài xīn; Cant: jau4 coi3 sam1). To my palate, it tastes exactly the same as the first. Finally, there is also a purple stemmed variety.

Good question. It strikes me that I've never actually been served it by any Chinese friends and there are no recipes in any of my Chinese cookbooks or on the internet, that I can see. Yet every supermarket and wet market has it, so they must be doing something with it. I guess it is simply stir fried like the green and white varieties. I'll ask friends over the weekend how they use it. I have used myself, but only in western style dishes.

The flatter ones are those I pictured first above. These: I'm somewhat surprised they are being described as Taiwanese. Cabbage is generally considered to be a north China thing here, although widely available.

Had a rather heavy lunch, so a light dinner tonight. Stir fried fresh ramen noodles with duck and leeks. Duck marinated with Shaoxing wine, garlic, ginger and chilli. A splash of soy sauce near the end.

Today is the 9th day of the 9th month in the Chinese calendar, celebrated by the Double Ninth Festival, a day when people like to climb mountains, enjoy the chrysanthemum or pay respects to ancestors. So now seems a good idea to jump ahead of my plan and deal with @heidih's lucky find. Garland chrysanthemum, glebionis coronaria, formerly called chrysanthemum coronarium, is also sometimes known as chrysanthemum greens, chop suey greens, Japanese greens, crown daisy chrysanthemum, edible chrysanthemum, or cooking chrysanthemum. In Chinese, it is 茼蒿 (Mand: tóng hāo; Cant: tung4 hou1). Whatever name you choose, they are the edible leaves of a variety of chrysanthemum (of course!) It is a fairly common green vegetable here, mainly used in hot pots and should be added just before serving. Long cooking doesn’t do it any favours – the leaves turn bitter. It is also used in soups, stir fries and in Taiwanese oyster omelettes. It can also be eaten raw in salads. I like it, too.

Here is an answer to @ElsieD' s problem of Napa cabbage being too much for her needs (If she can find them). Many needs I would think. Also available are 娃娃菜 (Mand: wá wá cài; Cant: waa1 waa1 coi3) which is 'baby cabbage', a small growing version of Napa. Particularly popular in Sichuan, but available widely. Perhaps bizarrely, these are sold in supermarkets in packs of three, rather defeating the point. However, I am able to buy them separately in wet/farmer's markets. I didn't measure them, but they are about ⅓ of the size of Napa. I'm glad they are clean!

Yes, I agree

While I'm on the subject of round cabbages, I should mention that we also get red or purple cabbage. Here they are called 红包菜/紅包菜 (Mand: hóng bāo cài; Cant: hung4 baau1 coi3) or 紫包菜 (M: zǐ bāo cài; Cant: zi2 baau1 coi3). The first means red cabbage while the second means purple cabbage.

We also get the round head type cabbages - Brassica oleracea. In Chinese, these are referred to as 包菜 (Mand: bāo cài; Cant: baau1 coi3) , with bao meaning wrap or bag. One slight variation is the one known as 京包菜 (Mand: jīng bāo cà; Cant: qing1 baau1 coi3) , where jing/qing is an abbreviation for Beijing, so Beijing cabbage. No. I can't see much difference either.

There is a slightly different cultivar of Napa type cabbage available. This is known as 青麻叶大白菜 / 青麻葉大白 (M: qīng má yè dà cài; C: ceng1 maa4 jip6 daai6 baak6 coi3). This translates as Green Sesame Leaf Large Cabbage. My local supermarket drops part of the name, just going for 青麻白菜. It seems to me that the difference is purely visual. I can detect no difference in taste. That said, the supermarkets and markets all carry both. I have been unable to find any English name for this version.

Yes. Coming up.

It's turned a bit chilly here, so tonight was comfort food. Steak and kidney stew with carrots and onions. Thyme, salt and pepper. Served with buttery rough mash and a side of cabbage (not pictured).

@Darienne I'll get to choi sum, soon too.

I'll get to that one soon.

Baby Bok Choy is actually a misnomer as it implies that if left alone it will grow up into a regular cabbage. It won't. In Chinese it is 小白菜 (Mand: xiǎo bái cài; Cant: siu2 baak6 coi3) , which is literally 'small bok choy'. It, like the Shanghai bok choy, is cultivar of Brassica rapa subsp. chinensis. This is one of my favourite brassicas . It can been cooked or eaten raw in salads. Also, may I mention here that vegetables are almost never steamed in China - they are stir fried, preferably in lard (ie pig fat).