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Strange yet delicious Chinese greens: help to identify 'em


zend

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I just bought these greens from the neighborhood Asian grocery. Had them once in China as a salad, and they tasted exceptional - a bit peppery like arugula, yet much more subtle and fresh, with hints of lemon.

Store lady (non-Chinese) could not name them for me other than "Chinese greens".

Any help identifying them is greatly appreciated :)

 

IMAG1506.jpg

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Can it be this?

 

chrysanthemum leaves = chop suey greens = tong ho = tung ho = garland chrysanthemum = shungiku    Notes:  This Asian potherb is used to flavor salads, soups, sukiyaki and other dishes.  The leaves are usually blanched briefly to soften them and deepen their color, but young leaves can be served raw.  Add them to cooked dishes at the last minute, as they become bitter if overcooked.    

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Glebionis coronaria.

 

Many names for this around the world. Even in Chinese it is commonly known as tong ho (茼蒿) in Cantonese-speaking areas but is often known as "King Vegetable" (皇帝菜) (more correctly, "Emperor Vegetable") in various other places.

 

I myself prefer the large-leafed variety (大葉茼蒿) which is less commonly found but which has a finer flavor to it - the plants look like this, or this, or this, or this, or this, and so on.

 

ETA: @zend, here are just a few examples (there are more) that I've posted on eG showing what I did with this vegetable: here, here, here (scroll down), here (scroll down), here, here (scroll way down), here, here (scroll down).

Edited by huiray (log)
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@liuzhou had not seen your post on Chrysanthemum, unfortunately... what did they end up as? I am looking at turning mine into a sesame-dressed salad.

Edited by zend
bad spelling (log)
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1 hour ago, zend said:

@liuzhou had not seen your post on Chrysanthemum, unfortunately... what did they end up as? I am looking at turning mine into a sesame-dressed salad.

 

 

I can't recall exactly what I did with that batch. They are so common round here - routine greens. Probably I just stir fried them with garlic till they wilted and served as a side dish.

I have used them in salads, too, but not recently. Don't know why.

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...your dancing child with his Chinese suit.

 

The Kitchen Scale Manifesto

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47 minutes ago, yoboseyo said:

I've heard it called garland chrysanthemum

 

I'm not sure that they are exactly the same thing. Similar and certainly related, but not exactly the same.

Different types of chrysanthemum I think. They for sure have different names in Chinese. I've seen them side by side in one local supermarket, sold as two separate things.

Garland chrysanthemum is usually 茼蒿 tóng hāo round here as opposed to 菊花菜 jú huā cài.

But I really don't know. I'm an eater, not a horticulturist.

 

 

...your dancing child with his Chinese suit.

 

The Kitchen Scale Manifesto

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