Chinese Vegetables Illustrated

[KennethT]

Just now, liuzhou said:

 

Thinking further about this, think a big difference is that in Vietnam (my favourite culinary destination) most of these greens are served raw as salad items, whereas in China, they will always be cooked, so pristine samples aren't quite so important.

 

This makes a lot of sense.

[liuzhou]

2 minutes ago, KennethT said:

This makes a lot of sense.

 

I do occasionally! 😁

[heidih]

Thanks for the reminder. I used to sell the variegata (tri-color) version. Very showy. With a large font label "highly invasive" - those aggressive rhizomes. I didn't know its culinary use until I saw it referenced in a Vietnamese blog. I donlt have access anymore but I think a friend does or did. Will have to check.

[liuzhou]

Today, I bought a pizza. Pizzas are not vegetables. But this one was delivered to my home accompanied by a vegetable I've rarely seen in markets or supermarkets in China, but occasionally in restaurants. I'm talking about Eruca vesicaria or Eruca sativa Mill., popularly known in Commonwealth English as rocket, from the French roquette which in turn is from the Italian ruchetta. It was adopted into English in the early 16th century. In the USA and Canada, it known as arugula from the Calabrian dialect word, aruculu, although this seems to be a mid-20th century innovation. Whatever you call it, it is native to the Mediterranean lands.

 

In Chinese, it is bizarrely known as 芝麻菜 (zhī ma cài) or 芝麻叶 (zhī ma yè). These are misnomers. They translate as ‘sesame vegetable’ or ‘sesame leaf’, respectively. Sesame is a totally different plant, Sesamum indicum, and I have seen no evidence that its leaves are eaten other than being used in TCM, mostly as a laxative.

 

I was surprised that the rocket was delivered separately to be eaten uncooked or just wilted in the pizza’s residual heat. When it is (only occasionally) used in Chinese cuisine, it is usually lightly stir fried like any other green vegetable rather than being treated as a herb. Occasionally it is added to soups.

 

Eruca sativa Mill.

[Katie Meadow]

2 hours ago, liuzhou said:

Today, I bought a pizza. Pizzas are not vegetables. But this one was delivered to my home accompanied by a vegetable I've rarely seen in markets or supermarkets in China, but occasionally in restaurants. I'm talking about Eruca vesicaria or Eruca sativa Mill., popularly known in Commonwealth English as rocket, from the French roquette which in turn is from the Italian ruchetta. It was adopted into English in the early 16th century. In the USA and Canada, it known as arugula from the Calabrian dialect word, aruculu, although this seems to be a mid-20th century innovation. Whatever you call it, it is native to the Mediterranean lands.

 

In Chinese, it is bizarrely known as 芝麻菜 (zhī ma cài) or 芝麻叶 (zhī ma yè). These are misnomers. They translate as ‘sesame vegetable’ or ‘sesame leaf’, respectively. Sesame is a totally different plant, Sesamum indicum, and I have seen no evidence that its leaves are eaten other than being used in TCM, mostly as a laxative.

 

I was surprised that the rocket was delivered separately to be eaten uncooked or just wilted in the pizza’s residual heat. When it is (only occasionally) used in Chinese cuisine, it is usually lightly stir fried like any other green vegetable rather than being treated as a herb. Occasionally it is added to soups.

 

Eruca sativa Mill.

I think it's pretty common to throw fresh arugula on a pizza after it comes out of the oven. Ideally, at least from my perspective the pizza should be really hot so the arugula wilts a bit on top.

[liuzhou]

42 minutes ago, Katie Meadow said:

I think it's pretty common to throw fresh arugula on a pizza after it comes out of the oven. Ideally, at least from my perspective the pizza should be really hot so the arugula wilts a bit on top.

 

Yes. That is true but I was surprised to see a restaurant in China going on with that theory. Most Chinese customers have a strong aversion to uncooked food.