So, far I've shown 17 vegetables. Only 100 more to catch up with my supermarket stocks, then they will find something else as the seasons change!
Speaking of lettuce varieties (last post), here is another.
Lactuca sativa var. asparagina
Although it doesn’t look like it, this is a member of the lettuce family. I know it as celtuce, but it's also known as known in English as stem lettuce, celery lettuce, asparagus lettuce, sword lettuce, A-choy, or Chinese lettuce. In Chinese it is 莴笋/萵筍 (Mand: wō sǔn; Cant: wo1 seon2) or 莴苣/萵苣 (Mand: wō jù; Cant: wo1 geoi6).
Those in the second picture are about 40 cm (15.7 inches) long and have a maximum diameter of 5 cm (2 inches). The stems are peeled, sliced and used in various stir fries. The taste is somewhere between lettuce and celery, hence the name. The texture is more like the latter.
The leafy tops are also sold separately as 油麦菜/油麥菜 (Mand: yóu mài cài; Cant: jau4 mak6 coi3).
The stems are also dried and sold as 贡菜/貢菜 (Mand: gòng cài; Cant: gung3 coi3), literally 'tribute vegetable'.
