Chinese Vegetables Illustrated

[liuzhou]

A while back, I mentioned day lilies and noted that the flowers are seldom available fresh. Well they were today!

 

 

 

[Katie Meadow]

They do in fact look like day lilies. Very pretty. What are you going to do with them? I've only used dried, and only when making hot and sour soup.

[liuzhou]

11 hours ago, Katie Meadow said:

They do in fact look like day lilies. Very pretty. What are you going to do with them? I've only used dried, and only when making hot and sour soup.

 

 I made a soup, too. Hot but not sour. I had some good chicken stock to which I added garlic, shallots and white pepper, then the flowers. Simple delicate flavour with the peppery afterkick. I was happy with it.

 

(Less so with the photographs.)

 

 

 

 

[liuzhou]

I posted my fresh day lily pictures only to friends on the Chinese near-equivalent of Facebook and I'm being beseiged by friends asking where I found them! No one seems to have seen them before!

I only found them by chance! Maybe a one-off. Hope not!

[Smithy]

What was the texture of the day lilies in the soup? Silky, tender, gelatinous, crunchy...?

[liuzhou]

7 hours ago, Smithy said:

What was the texture of the day lilies in the soup? Silky, tender, gelatinous, crunchy...?

 

Silky and tender, yes. Not in the least gelatinous or crunchy.

 

[dcarch]

Daylily is an amazing plant. It grows in sun, in shade, in summer and in winter. It comes back every year. It requires no care, and it doesn't seem to have insect problem.

 

Not only that it gives you pretty flowers for your garden, it is also a very nice vegetable. 

 

From Google ---"Daylilies are not only edible, they are spectacular. After sampling the flowers, flower buds, young stalks and root tubers, I've come to the conclusion that they're so tasty I may grow them as a food crop---"

 

Every year, before I get anything from my garden early in the spring, I harvest daylily shoots.

 

dcarch

Edited August 30, 2019 by dcarch (log)

[liuzhou]

Today, for the first time ever, I found fresh sand ginger! I have added it to the relevant entry, but thought I'd put here too.

 

[KennethT]

10 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

Today, for the first time ever, I found fresh sand ginger! I have added it to the relevant entry, but thought I'd put here too.

 

 

What is sand ginger?  How does it differ from regular ginger or it's more herbal/medicinal cousin galangal?

[liuzhou]

6 minutes ago, KennethT said:

What is sand ginger?  How does it differ from regular ginger or it's more herbal/medicinal cousin galangal?

 

 

Sand ginger is a literal translation of the Chinese and an alternative name for lesser galangal - Kaempferia galanga.

 

It is used in Tradional Chinese Medicine, but also in hot pots in winter. It is more peppery and less herbal than  either regular ginger or true galangal.

Edited September 5, 2019 by liuzhou (log)

[heidih]

On 8/29/2019 at 10:37 AM, Katie Meadow said:

They do in fact look like day lilies. Very pretty. What are you going to do with them? I've only used dried, and only when making hot and sour soup.

 

@dcarch  uses them beautifully as I seem to recall. Input?

[liuzhou]

Way back in this post, I mentioned that frozen peas were unavailable here. Scrap that. This morning my supermarket had bags of frozen peas beside the frozen jiaozi. Did I buy some?

 

No. They were only available as part of a two-pack. Not two packs of peas, though. They were paired with a bag of frozen c*rn!

 

Also, I wasn't going to be home for a few hours and didn't want to carry them around all day in the heat. I may go back in a day or two and give the c*rn to someone I don't like.

Edited October 22, 2019 by liuzhou (log)

[JoNorvelleWalker]

19 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

Way back in this post, I mentioned that frozen peas were unavailable here. Scrap that. This morning my supermarket had bags of frozen peas beside the frozen jiaozi. Did I buy some?

 

No. They were only avilable as part of a two-pack. Not two packs of peas, though. They were paired with frozen c*rn!

 

Also, I wasn't going to be home for a few hours and didn't want to carry them around all day in the heat. I may go back in a day or two and give the c*rn to someone I don't like.

 

 

I haven't checked recently but Shoprite most likely still does not have frozen peas.  Now that you mention, I am out of them.  Thank goodness for amazon.

 

[liuzhou]

This is the root of a plant, so I vote that it belongs here.

人参 / 人蔘 (Mand: rén shēn; Cant: jan4 sam1), Panax notoginseng, is South China Ginseng. The plant is extinct in the wild, so all available now is cultivated.

 

 

Seldom available fresh, the dried root is mainly used in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), but also has culinary uses. It is used to make ginseng tea and canned energy drinks and is also used in soups, especially with chicken, and in hotpot stocks. The taste has an earthy sweetness similar to carrot, and a slightly bitter aftertaste.

 

Edited September 6 by liuzhou (log)

[Thanks for the Crepes]

28 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

This is the root of a plant, so I vote that it belongs here.

人参 / 人蔘 (Mand: rén shēn; Cant: jan4 sam1), Panax notoginseng, is South China Ginseng. The plant is extinct in the wild, so all available now is cultivated.

 

 

Seldom available fresh, the dried root is mainly used in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), but also has culinary uses. It is used to make ginseng tea and canned energy drinks and is also used in soups and hotpot stocks. The taste has an earthy sweetness similar to carrot, and a slightly bitter aftertaste.

 

 

I knew we have something we call ginseng that grows wild here, and after looking it up, it turns out we export it to China, including from my state, North Carolina. We also cultivate it, and have strict rules for harvesting the wild stuff, so as to perpetuate it.

 

liuzhou, do you have any idea if what is still growing wild in our mountains is the same plant that is extinct in the Chinese wild? There is a latin name in the link above.

 

[liuzhou]

On 11/3/2019 at 1:59 PM, Thanks for the Crepes said:

 

I knew we have something we call ginseng that grows wild here, and after looking it up, it turns out we export it to China, including from my state, North Carolina. We also cultivate it, and have strict rules for harvesting the wild stuff, so as to perpetuate it.

 

liuzhou, do you have any idea if what is still growing wild in our mountains is the same plant that is extinct in the Chinese wild? There is a latin name in the link above.

 

 

America ginseng, Panax quinquefolius is a different sub-species from South China ginseng, Panax notoginseng. I have seen the American variety here, but it is rather expensive.

Edited November 5, 2019 by liuzhou (log)

[liuzhou]

Here's a rarity for you, which I found this morning. Brassica juncea var gemminfera. 儿菜 (ér cài) or 拳头菜 (quán tóu cài; literally 'fist vegetable)', this is a member of the mustard family found mainly in Yunnan and Sichuan provinces.

 

It can be boiled, stir fried or roasted and tastes similar to Brussels sprouts. For me this a good thing!

 

 

 

 

Edited December 17, 2019 by liuzhou (log)

[liuzhou]

This is part of a gift I received today. Grown by my friend's grandfather. 粉葛 (fěn gé), Pueraria montana var. lobata, kudzu, Japanese arrowroot. It's not short of names. 16"/ 40cm long.

 

 

Mainly used medicinally or as animal fodder, but also by humans for its starch and is peeled, sliced and used in soups.

 

[heidih]

So is this what we buy in processed form as "arrowroot'? I've use the powder as a less gloppy than cornstarch thickener. 

[liuzhou]

1 hour ago, heidih said:

So is this what we buy in processed form as "arrowroot'? I've use the powder as a less gloppy than cornstarch thickener. 

 

Could be; could be not. There are many "arrowroots", but they are all basically just sources of starch. I tend to use potato starch as a go to and I never use c@rn in any form whatsoever.

Kudzu is classified as an invasive species in the USA, as I understand.

Edited December 20, 2019 by liuzhou (log)

[KennethT]

I've never seen it fresh, but have found it in small chunk form (about 15mm) which you can grind in mortar to make powder for thickening. I've only seen it in specialty stores so it's pretty expensive

[liuzhou]

40 minutes ago, KennethT said:

I've only seen it in specialty stores so it's pretty expensive

 

Well, now I appreciate my gift even more!

[heidih]

9 hours ago, liuzhou said:

 

Could be; could be not. There are many "arrowroots", but they are all basically just sources of starch. I tend to use potato starch as a go to and I never use c@rn in any form whatsoever.

Kudzu is classified as an invasive species in the USA, as I understand.

 

 

I am an idiot!  I've bought little arrow shaped roots at the Chinee market in the past. Ouch- memory loss. Yes the myth of kudzu is part of our fabric  https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/true-story-kudzu-vine-ate-south-180956325/

[liuzhou]

Here's an oddity. Although it was labelled as  西兰花 (xī lán huā), which is 'broccoli', it looks like no broccoli I've ever seen before. Even the checkout girl asked me what the heck it was. I'm guessing it might be some variant or hybrid. I'll cook it later and see if it tastes of broccoli.

 

EDITED: to note I've found it. It is Broccoli Romanesco - 罗马花椰菜 (luó mǎ huā yé cà) or 宝塔花菜 (bǎo tǎ huā cài) - literally, 'pagoda cauliflower'. 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 19, 2020 by liuzhou (log)

[heidih]

20 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

Here's an oddity. Although it was labelled as  西兰花 (xī lán huā), which is 'broccoli', it looks like no broccoli I've ever seen before. Even the checkout girl as ked me what the heck it was. I'm guessing it might be some variant or hybrid. I'll cook it later and see f it tastes of broccoli.

 

 

 

 

 

It has become quite in vogue here.  More cauliflower than broccoli taste to my not too discerning palate. Beautiful though. This I think https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanesco_broccoli