Chinese Veggies That Aren't Green

[eatingwitheddie]

What are your favorite non-green Chinese vegetables?

Recipes? Dishes? Who makes them best?

[Fat Guy]

Eggplant!

[torakris]

bamboo shoots

[Jason Perlow]

bamboo shoots

Yes, especially the fresh ones.

[Jason Perlow]

I like all kinds of bean sprouts -- mungbeans, soy, etc. I cant imagine a fried rice or noodle dish without them. Where would egg foo young be?

The humble bean sprout rules.

[Jason Perlow]

Eggplant!

Eggplant in black bean sauce, or in garlic sauce with shrimp or ground pork. Heaven.

[Blue Heron]

Do mushrooms count? I love Chinese mushrooms in soups, stir fry, egg rolls...

[Jason Perlow]

Do mushrooms count?  I love Chinese mushrooms in soups, stir fry, egg rolls...

Definitely. But do shitakkes count? The chinese use them a lot, even though they are of japanese origin.

[eatingwitheddie]

Do mushrooms count?  I love Chinese mushrooms in soups, stir fry, egg rolls...

They count for sure.

[nervousnelli]

How about pumpkin and bitter gourd?

... lotus root?

[Blue Heron]

Do mushrooms count?  I love Chinese mushrooms in soups, stir fry, egg rolls...

They count for sure.

What are some of the names of chinese mushrooms?

I can think of cloud ear, wood ear, straw, black (Shitake)... Is oyster mushroom Chinese as well?

I guess there would also be lots of various chinese mushrooms in chinese herbal medicine (off topic).

Edited March 19, 2003 by Blue Heron (log)

[Fat Guy]

Is there any way we can get pork labeled as a vegetable? If so, I'd like to nominate fried pork dumplings. If not, I'll go with water chestnuts, which are not only a great Chinese ingredient but also form the cornerstone of many a 1970s-era "elegant but easy" American comfort-food dish.

[funcook]

What are your favorite non-green Chinese vegetables?

Recipes? Dishes? Who makes them best?

Crisp fried red and yellow peppers, pearl onions and Jicama or Turnips ? !

[tonkichi]

radish (daikon) - for soups

gingko nuts ?vegetable

there's this redand cream speckled beans that we get in the market that makes excellent beany soups

[snowangel]

I have periodic access to water chestnuts (not in the can, but fresh). Yum.

[tissue]

winter melon in soup

[Akiko]

Crunch crunch crunch... I love bamboo shoots, and water chestnuts

OOOH I don't really care for bitter melon... although I get perverse enjoyment from serving it to people... kind of like getting someone to try natto... you hardly ever find anyone who likes it the first time, but if you do, they LOVE it and will always remember having had it with you for the first time.

[tanyahsu]

An excellent (Beijing?) eggplant dish that's simply steamed with black vinegar, soy sauce and lots of garlic...yummm...

[SobaAddict70]

OOOH I don't really care for bitter melon

That's ok, Akiko. More bitter melon for me.

Try it, stir-fried with pork and garlic, in a sauce with fermented black beans and chiles. It's also a big vegetable in the Philippines.

Soba

[rozrapp]

Forgive my ignorance, but are water chestnuts and bitter melon really vegetables? The names certainly don't sound like it. While I have never eaten bitter melon, I have had water chestnuts -- which I love -- and would never have thought of them as being in the vegetable category. But, then, I'm not sure what other category I would put them in.

[Suzanne F]

I've always had a hard time understanding how people could dislike waterchestnuts -- and even more so, once I tasted FRESH ones. Mmmmmm.

And taro, every way, shape, and form.

Do chilies and fermented black beans count as vegetables?

[richw]

I like all kinds of bean sprouts -- mungbeans, soy, etc. I cant imagine a fried rice or noodle dish without them. Where would egg foo young be?

The humble bean sprout rules.

SOYBEANS sprouts are SO GOOD . I like them raw as well as cooked. I never see them served at any dining establishments though.

[Jaymes]

Carrots. Carrots & red & green peppers. Carrots & onions and red & green peppers.

[SobaAddict70]

bitter melon is used as a veggie, although technically its considered a fruit.

trust me, you wouldn't want to use bitter melon as a substitute for cantaloupe.

I think a water chestnut is considered a rhizome, and therefore a vegetable. (someone pls correct me.)

Soba

[Akiko]

Soba, my family comes from a little Island on the most southern point of japan - Okinawa... where the culture is this hybrid of China and Japan (although Japan doesn't like to admit it... Okinawa was probably much closer in culture to China than Japan before they were taken over by Japan). Anyways, bitter melon stir fried with pork in all sorts of combinations ought to be the national dish... I can't think of anything more Okinawan... unless its andagi (donut holes type things, kind of fritter like)... or maybe yellow noodle ramen (these things are probably are all actually chinese).

blech, bittermelon, I WANT to like it because it ought to be refreshing and it's so... a reminder of my family and home... but I don't... its too bitter!

I'll make you some though! I'm convinced I make very good bitter melon with tofu, garlic, ginger, and bacon... I just don't care for it!