Chinese vegetables

[hzrt8w]

Though I live fairly close to many Asian grocery markets, I usually only do fresh produce shopping once a week. Our regular diet includes many varieties of Chinese vegetables or melons. Some vegetables can be kept for a while in the refrigerator. But others can go bad very quickly even in a refrigerator. The following is a list of the Chinese vegetables and their shelf lives from my experience.

Short shelf-life (need to cook ASAP):

- Ong choy (the leaves will "dissolve" after a few days)

- Bean sprouts

- Choy sum

- Peashoots

- "A" choy

Medium shelf-life (can be kept for 1 to 2 weeks):

- Chinese mustard greens

- Bok choy

- Taiwanese bok choy

- Chinese broccoli

- Lettuce

- Chinese chive

Long shelf-life (more than 2 weeks):

- Chinese cabbage

- Lotus roots

- Fuzzy melons

- Winter melons (can be kept for a few months if not cut)

- Daikon

- Taro

- Kabocha

I found that for many of the melons or root vegetables (such as taro and daikon), the key to storing them for a long time is to keep them in a cool, dry place. They don't need to be refrigerated but must be kept dry.

My routine produce shopping includes a mix of vegetables with different shelf-lives so that I don't risk ruining what I bought. And I always keep a Chinese cabbage or some melons as an emergency inventory in case that I run out of fresh vegetables.

[Dejah]

Let me add a couple to your list:

Short shelf life: dow gok - Chinese long beans. If left for a couple days, they will turn fibrous.

Long shelf life:: fuzzy melon - I still have one large melon from last year's harvest! It is 15 inches long, about 13" around, wrapped in a double layer of newspaper, and kept in our cool basement. I made soup with the second last one last week. The fibres in the centre holding the seeds was a bit dry, but the melon itself still tasted fresh. It is known to be beneficial for health to simmer it for long period of time - low faw - with ginger, a piece of chun pei, and rehydrated dried oysters.

[Chris Amirault]

Short shelf life: dow gok - Chinese long beans. If left for a couple days, they will turn fibrous.

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I find that long beans are extraordinarily variable: firm, dark green beans can keep for a week, whereas others have just a couple of days of quality life, if that.

Makes me wonder how old the stuff is before I even see it.

[weinoo]

I found that for many of the melons or root vegetables (such as taro and daikon), the key to storing them for a long time is to keep them in a cool, dry place.  They don't need to be refrigerated but must be kept dry.

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This last sentence is key - many don't realize that refrigerators actually suck the moisture out of produce. And if storage is too moist, most things will start to mold and rot!

[SheenaGreena]

I always buy a bag of bean sprouts (usually a lb or more), forget about them for 2 -3 days, and have to throw them out bc they are all wet and gross. I think bean sprouts spoiler quicker than any other veggies I have cooked with - asian or european.

Is there a easier way to keep them from spoiling rather than cooking them all off at once?

eta: thanks ah leung for the great list. I haven't been to the grocery store in a while and the next time I go, I'll be sure to buy some of those veggies that last the longest.

squash can last FOREVER. My mother has a pumpkin thats a year old..and I swear to god she just keeps it for decoration. She leaves it on the kitchen floor and surprisingly enough not in the basement where I'm sure it could keep for another year or so

Edited September 8, 2007 by SheenaGreena (log)

[jo-mel]

I always buy a bag of bean sprouts (usually a lb or more), forget about them for 2 -3 days, and have to throw them out bc they are all wet and gross.  I think bean sprouts spoiler quicker than any other veggies I have cooked with - asian or european. 

Is there a easier way to keep them from spoiling rather than cooking them all off at once?

I think that rinsing them in really cold water, once a day, will extend the 'shelf life'. But by how long, I don't know.

Do I remember that they used to be sold, in big vats, in cold water?

[hzrt8w]

I always buy a bag of bean sprouts (usually a lb or more), forget about them for 2 -3 days, and have to throw them out bc they are all wet and gross.  I think bean sprouts spoiler quicker than any other veggies I have cooked with - asian or european. 

Is there a easier way to keep them from spoiling rather than cooking them all off at once?

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Bean sprouts can be kept alive longer in water, if the roots (tails) and heads are not clipped off. Change water daily as jo-mel suggested. Heck you can *grow* your bean sprouts in water. Use mung beans for the small sprouts and soya beans for the big sprouts. It takes something like a week? But the down side is you need to remove the bean shells. A lot of work...

You can let all kinds of beans to sprout. But I have not tasted other ones.

[hzrt8w]

Add to my list:

Chinese eggplants. That's a tricky one. The key is: no moisture. In early days I kept the eggplants in the refrigerator in some plastic bags. The condensation which was trapped inside the plastic bag caused the eggplants to grow "dark spots" after a few days.

The best to keep them is to leave them in room temperature. Just keep them in a cool, dry (dark - avoid direct sunlight) place. They may dehydrate slowly but better than turning moldy in a few days.

Any melon/squash that has a hard shell can be kept for a long time. e.g. kobocha and winter melon. (Until you poke a hole in it and introduce bacteria. )

[heidih]

I always buy a bag of bean sprouts (usually a lb or more), forget about them for 2 -3 days, and have to throw them out bc they are all wet and gross.  I think bean sprouts spoiler quicker than any other veggies I have cooked with - asian or european. 

Is there a easier way to keep them from spoiling rather than cooking them all off at once?

I think that rinsing them in really cold water, once a day, will extend the 'shelf life'. But by how long, I don't know.

Do I remember that they used to be sold, in big vats, in cold water?

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That is how I store mine- in a bowl of water, changing water daily. Even when I don't make it to an Asian market with perky ones and have to settle for the bagged version, they last me a week.

[hzrt8w]

I found that for long beans, they really don't last and must be cooked right away. They turn brown and dark brown very quickly. String beans seem to keep longer.

I am not sure about the recently mentioned "gow gee". Do they last? I have only seen my in-laws make them. And they grow their own in the backyard.

[Dejah]

I found that for long beans, they really don't last and must be cooked right away.  They turn brown and dark brown very quickly.  String beans seem to keep longer.

I am not sure about the recently mentioned "gow gee".  Do they last?  I have only seen my in-laws make them.  And they grow their own in the backyard.

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Long beans - dow gok - becomes fibrous and dry if not used fairly quickly. String beans are more fleshy, so don't dry out as fast.

Gow gee - not sure if we are using the same pronunciation - to mean wolfberry - the leaves or the red berries?

The leaves will last for acouple of weeks if taken off the stalks, kept dry wrapped in newspaper and kept in the fridge.

The berries are best used fresh off the bush, or dried. They spoil quickly after being picked and left in the fridge - turning black.

[Dejah]

Took a picture of the wolfberries from the bush in my garden. Only the berries from the bush are used; the leaves, being tough and slightly bitter, are not used for soup. I have the other variety for that but not in season at the moment. I'll have to wait for spring now.

Some people dry them for use later. I just make soup with them while fresh with a simple pork broth.

[junehl]

Wow Dejah, your wolfberries are big!

I had some berries grown on mine, but they were the size of baby peas!