the.com/bok choy
the cabbage that refused to form a head and somehow won anyway
means A leafy Chinese cabbage with crisp white stalks and dark green leaves, eaten as a vegetable in stir-fries, soups, and the like.
from From Cantonese 白菜 (baak6 coi3), literally "white vegetable" — baak meaning white, choi meaning vegetable. The name traveled into English through Cantonese-speaking communities, which is why we say "choy" rather than the Mandarin "cai." In Mandarin the same characters give us "baicai," the broader word for cabbage, so the plant is quite literally named for its pale stalks.
- name origin
- Cantonese for white vegetable, despite being mostly green
- family ties
- a mustard cousin, sibling to broccoli and kale
- frost lover
- cold snaps make its leaves sweeter, not sadder
- speed eater
- matures in under six weeks from seed
- zero waste
- every part edible, raw to stir-fried