Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Onto Dining Table X Into Data Table: Asian Green Vegetables

it’s a question

no.. a few questions actually

I has been asking myself

for quite time already

 

eg: how do you say Choy Sum in English?

 

no…

not the god of prosperity

that’s Choy Sun

the green leafy veggie

you found in your Wantan Noodle

how do you address it in English

 

01 - Choy Sum / Choi Sum / 菜心

01 菜心 - Choy Sum - Chinese Flowering Cabbage

  • literally means “Veggie heart”
  • Chinese flowering cabbage
  • Sawi in Malay language
  • a relative of Pak Choy (it has got a lot of names too)
  • Chinese soup green
  • Brassica parachinensis
  • a member of the Mustard family
  • 菜薹、广东菜薹、广东菜

 

02 - Pak Choi / Bok Choy / 白菜

02  大白菜 - Pak Choy - Chinese cabbage02 塌菜 - Tatsoi - Rossette Pak  Choi

02  小白菜 - Siew Pak Choy02  奶白菜 - Canton Pak Choy

  • Brassica chinensis
  • mustard family as well
  • literally translated as White Veggie
  • Chinese cabbage

 

4 categories of Pak Choi:

  • Chinese White Bok Choi (大白菜)
  • Shanghai Bok Choi (上海白菜 / 青江菜)
  • Rossette Bok Choi / Tatsoi (塌菜)
  • Canton type (奶白菜) / harvested early as        Baby Bok Choi (奶白苗).

 

03 - Kai Choi / 芥菜

03 芥菜 - Kai Choi -  Mustard green

  • Brassica juncea
  • Mustard Greens
  • is a member of the mustard family, obviously
  • more pungent than the closely-related Brassica oleracea greens (kale, cabbage, collard greens, et cetera) ……. who are them????
  • the one used for pickled salted veggie
  • 大菜 = large veggie
  • 盖菜

 

04 - Gai Lan / Kai Lan / 芥藍

05 芥藍 - Kai Lan - Chinese Kale

  • Brassica alboglabra
  • Chinese Broccoli
  • Chinese Kale
  • Left Broccoli

 

ni hao Kai Lan

the Mandarin learning cartoon

Ni Hao Kai-Lan 你好 凱蘭

 

I have no idea how come Gai Lan to Broccoli

I always think Broccoli is a friend of Cauli Flower

Brocolli and Gai Lan even sounds similar in Mandarin

芥蘭花 and 芥蘭菜

 

Gailan = chinese broccoli in English

Broccoli = Flowery Gai Lan in Mandarin

okay just forget it

 

05 - Ong Choi / Weng Cai / 蕹菜

05 蕹菜 - Ong Choi - Water Spinach - Kangkung

  • Ipomoea aquatica
  • a member of the Morning Glory family (Convolvulaceae).
  • closely related to sweet potato (Ipomea batatas)
  • Kangkung in malay, the one with Nasi Lemak
  • Water Spinach
  • Kong Xin Cai (空心菜)… empty-heart veg / hollow veg, why?
  • swamp cabbage
  • 應菜 / 空心菜 / 無心菜 / 壅菜 / 藤菜 / 葛菜 / 甕菜

 

06 - Tong Ho / 茼蒿

06 茼蒿 - Tong Ho - Chrysanthemum Greens

  • chrysanthemum coronarium
  • Chrysanthemum Greens, Garland Chyrsanthemum
  • 打某菜 / 春菊

 

07 - Sang Choi / 莴苣 / 生菜

 07 莴苣 - Sang Choi - Celtuce

  • Lactuca sativa var. asparagina, augustana, or angustata
  • Celtuce
  • stem lettuce
  • celery lettuce
  • asparagus lettuce 莴筍
  • 唐生菜 / 春菜

 

08 Yau Mak / 油麥

08 油麥 - Yao Mak - long leaf lettuce

  • Lactuca sativa var. longifolia Lam.
  • long leaf lettuce
  • 莜麦菜 /

 

09 - “Bitter Lettuce” / 苦麥菜

09  苦味菜 - Bitter Veggie - Rabbit milkweed

  • Ixeris chinensis
  • Rabbit milkweed
  • 兔仔菜 / 鵝仔菜 / 小苦苣 / 苦尾菜
  • 山莴苣 = Wild celery lettuce

 

10 - Yin Choi / 莧菜

10 莧菜 - Yin Choi - Amaranth Leaf - Bayam10 紅莧菜 - Yin Choi - Red Amaranth Leaf

  • Bayam is more common than the mandarin name back here
  • red Bayam / green Bayam
  • Amaranth leaf
  • 荇菜 / 莕菜

 

11 - Gao Gei Choi / 枸杞菜

11 枸杞菜 - Gao Gei Choi - Wolfberry Shoot

  • Lycium barbarum
  • Goji / Wolfberry shoots / leaves
  • we cook it as soup, with egg, just like seaweed soup
  • thorny stalk
  • 枸杞苗 / 葉

 

12 - Lo Kui / 落葵

12 落葵 - Lo Kiu - Malabar Spinach

  • Basella alba
  • Malabar Spinach
  • Ceylon / Indian Spinach
  • Red Vine Spinach
  • Climbing Spinach
  • yet not related to spinach
  • sticky texture
  • 帝王菜 / 木耳菜 / 落葵 / 胭脂菜
  • 帝王菜, the Malaysian Mandarin name is literally translated as Emperor veggie 

 

13 - Sai Yong Choy / 西洋菜

13 西洋菜 - Sai Yong Choi - Water Cress

  • Nasturtium officinale, N. microphyllum
  • formerly Rorippa nasturtium-aquaticum, R. microphylla
  • remember the street at Mongkok, HK
  • water cress,
  • because that’s where it grows
  • botanically related to garden cress, mustard & radish
  • 豆瓣菜 / 水蔊菜 / 水芥 / 水田芥菜 / 水茼蒿

 

14 - Bo Choi / 菠菜

14 - 菠菜 - Bo Choi - Spinach

  • Spinacia oleracea
  • 菠菱,鹦鹉菜,红根菜,飛龍菜

 

Popeye the sailor man…

but seriously

I have never tasted canned spinach

do you?

Popeye & his spinach

 

oh no

I am so dying to get the answers

3 a.m. in the morning,

day 3 of Chinese New Year

still green-googling

 

15 - Fan Shee Mew / 番薯葉

15 番薯苗 - Fan Shoo Mew - Sweet Potato Shoot

  • Ipomoea batatas, same name for sweet potato
  • Sweet Potato Leaves or Shoots
  • 地瓜葉 / 番薯苗

 

16 - Choi Dam / 菜膽

16 菜膽 - Choi Dum - Brussels Sprout

  • Brassica oleracea
  • Brussels sprout
  • wild mini cabbage
  • 甘藍小包菜 / 小椰菜

 

into a table:

Choi / Choy / Cai Vegetables
Choi Sum 菜心 Chinese flowering cabbage
sawi (Malay)
Pak Choi 白菜 Chinese white
Kai Choi 芥菜 Mustard Green
Gai Lan 芥蘭 Chinese Broccoli
Ong Choi 蕹菜 Water Spinach
Kangkung (Malay)

Tong Ho

茼蒿

Chrysanthemum Greens

Sang Choy 莴苣 /
生菜 
Chinese lettuce
asparagus lettuce
Yau Mak 油麥菜 Long leaf lettuce
“Bitter Lettuce” 苦麥菜 Rabbit milkweed
Yin Choi 莧菜 Amaranth /
Chinese Spinach
Bayam (Malay)
Gao Gei Choi 枸杞葉 Wolfberry shoots
Lo Kui 帝王菜 / 落葵 Malabar Spinach
Ceylon Spinach
Sai Yong Choi 西洋菜 water cress
Bo Choi 菠菜 spinach
Fan Shee Mew 番薯葉 Sweet potato shoots
Choi Dam 菜膽 Brussels Sprout