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The Fresh Grocer's Guide to Asian Vegetables BEAN SPROUT: Also referred as Nga Choi. It has narrow, green or brownish pods, short hairs and green or gold seeds. Can be added to salad when fresh. Also good stir-fried. BAMBOO SHOOT: Usually packed in cans. The tender shoots are eaten as vegetables or can be cooked with other vegetables such as broccoli and cauliflower or stew with pork. BITTER MELON: Vegetable commonly used in soups and stews. Very bitter; takes getting used to. Enjoy cooked, not raw. BOK CHOY: Adds a strong sodium flavor to any stir-fry dish. Best enjoyed cooked or steamed, but not raw. CHAYOTE: Also referred to as Vegetable Pear. A herbaceous vine with palmy-lobed leaves. It is pear-shaped, green or pale green, wrinkled and shallowly furrowed. Sometimes with soft spines on the broader end. Each contains a large seed. CHI GU: Also referred to as Chinese Arrowhead. It is spherical, yellowish or brownish, with membranous scales on two or three rings. Peel, slice and cook the starchy corms. They are good for stew or stir-fry. CHESTNUTS: Shinny brown surface, sweet and fresh in taste. Either bake them, or remove the shell and bring the flesh to boil for stew with chicken. Boil, mash, and season them to use as a cake topping. CHINESE BOXTHORN: Also referred to as Kou-Kay-Choi. This shrub has long, recurved, thorny branches. Leaves are dark green and ovate. The soft slightly bitter leaves are cooked in soup with pork. The small dried red berries sold as a tonic in medical halls are very rich in carotene and are good for the eyes. CHINESE CHIVES: Also called Kau-Choi. It has long, grass-like leaves about 5mm wide, flat and solid. Its flowers are plucked together with the stalks. Both leaves and flowering culms are eaten as vegetables. They are good for stir-fry. CHINESE LONG BEANS: Also referred to as the yard-long bean. Solid crunch, not juicy. Keep refrigerated, unwashed and in a plastic bag. CHINESE PARSLEY: Also known as cilantro, this herb has an assertive, sage-citrus flavor. Used sparingly to season squash, eggplant, snow peas, onions, egg salad, eggs, cauliflower and tomatoes. Cilantro's name in Chinese means "fragrant plant". CHINESE SPINACH: Also called Yin-Choi. An upright, much branched annual with a thin membrane covering the stems. Leaves with long petioles vary in shape, size and color. They are commonly found as the lanceolate green leaves, rounded green leaves and rounded leaves red in the center; otherwise, green. It contains substantial amounts of vitamins A, B, C and double the amount of iron found in spinach. Cook them as lettuce. CHINESE WATER CHESTNUT: Also called Ma-Tai. Brown rough surface. Each produces long tubular leaves that project above the water surface. The edible part consists of a flattened corm. From the top of each planted corm, several slender horizontal rhizomes radiate out into the mud. Each terminating in a corm. The corms can be eaten raw, roasted or boiled after they have been peeled. They usually are cut into small slices and added to soup. Also good for stir fry. For dessert, shred and boil them with water and whipped egg. Add sugar for better taste. Boil whole peeled corms in water together with sugar cane to form a laxative drink. CHOY-SUM: Also known as Broccoli raab, Rapini and Chinese flowering cabbage. It has dark green, chard-like leaves on a stalk and a slightly bitter flavor. Can be cooked like broccoli, although it requires less cooking time. DAIKON: Also called Japanese radish. The sweet, juicy-crisp, white variety, resembling a white carrot, is slightly hotter than the traditional radish. Choose firm, smooth roots that have a luminous gleam. Add diced, sliced, or slivered to relishes and salads. GAI LAAN: Commonly known as Chinese broccoli, this vegetable is light green with a long stem, big flowered leaves and white flowers. It can be cooked like broccoli and often is used in stir-fry. Refrigerate in plastic up to five days. GINGER ROOT: Look for smooth skin that has a light sheen and white flesh. Keep in cool, dry storage. Ginger root is a seasoning tuber with a sweet flavor. Try it with cakes, breads, ice cream and beverages. It also is good in sauces, stir-fry, condiments, marinades, glazes, drinks, and fruit dishes. HONEY PEMOLO: Broad pear shape, massive, with a round slightly pointed bottom, pale yellowish green in appearance, smooth surface, thin skin, fleshy and juicy. JAPANESE EGGPLANT: The small, slender, purple eggplant is sweeter than the American variety. It can be baked, sautéed, grilled, or used in stir-fry or casseroles. KAI CHOI: Also known as Chinese Mustard and Mustard Cabbage. Radical leaves are large, obviate or lancelet, angled or notched, margins finely serrated, petiole stout, broad and sessile. Cooked as lettuce, or cooked in soup. Stems are preserved as sour-salt mustards. KUMQUAT: Kumquats are entirely edible. Skin is sweet; flesh is tart. Its zesty flavor is similar to the orange, but has a hint of tangerine. Should be firm, not soft-wet. If you plan to use this fruit within a few days, they can remain at room temperature; otherwise, keep them refrigerated for about two weeks. LEMON GRASS: Also know as TI De Lemon, Sereh, Citronelle root and Takrai. Lemon grass has long, woody stalks and white root ends. Texture is brittle and dry with a lemony flavor. Wrap tightly with foil or plastic wrap and store up to two weeks. Lemon grass is inedible unless peeled. Peel about 1 inch from root end and pull back three to four leaf layers until the tender white portion is exposed. Use in salad dressings, chicken and fish dishes, marinades, beverages and condiments. LIN NGOU: Also called Lotus. An aquatic herb with pellet leaves borne above and floats on the water. Fruit is a nut. The edible rhizome is submerge in mud. The rhizome and "seeds" can be eaten as food. When harvested for eating, the young rhizome tastes like artichokes. The older ones are considered diuretic. Rhizomes are harvested all year round and contain an abundance of starch. Ripe seeds can be cooked in dessert or soup. They are also coated with sugar powder and usually consumed during Chinese Lunar New Year. Peel, slice and cook the rhizome in soup with pork or stir fry. LO BOK: This Chinese radish is similar to Daikon in flavor and texture. Add to broiled fish, salads, and seasonings. LYCHEE: Red thin skin and white flesh. Very fleshy, juicy and sweet, and provides protein, iron, and vitamin C. NAPA CABBAGE: Also called Chinese cabbage, this vegetable has light green leaves with a squared-off tip. It can be braised, used in stir-fry or added to salads. ON CHOI: Also known as Water Spinach. Leaves are arrow-shaped and the stem is hollow. Cook as Lettuce and mix with soy sauce when serving. Can also be stir fried with minced garlic, add salt to taste. It contains high iron. SAR GOT: Also referred as Yam Bean. Can be eaten raw. Used in salad when fresh. Also good for stir fry. Choose the young Sar Got as they contain 10% starch and less than 1% protein. The older Sar Got are woody and used as a source of starch only. To prepare, peel the skin with a knife. SEE KUA: Also called Angled Loofah. It is long, dark green with ten angular ridges, widening from its point of attachment to its stalk. Peel, cut into slices and cook as vegetables. Good for stir fry and cooked in soup with pork. SHANDONG PEAR: Medium size, inverted oval shape, long stem, yellow pulp, thin skin, juicy, and scented. May taste both sweet and sour when recently harvested, but turns sweet with time. SHITAKE: Full-bodied, meaty, spongy texture, eaten fresh, served in salads, in sauces and stir-fried. SNOW PEA: Also known as Ho Lang Tau. The tender shoots are sold as a vegetable, commonly known as "Tou Miu." The edible peas have two forms: one is broad flat pod endosing a row of seeds at one sidle known as "Snow Pea" and the other is succulent and swollen (known as "Sugar Pea"). The immature seed pods are one of the most expensive vegetables. Tender pods and peas are highly digestible protein, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals. Both the Snow Pea and the Sugar Pea are good for stir fry. The tender shoots (Tou Miu) can be stir fried with minced garlic or cooked as lettuce and mixed with oyster sauce when serving. SOY BEAN SPROUT: Also called Dai Tau Nga Choi. It's an erect, bushy annual with soft hairy stem and leaves. The pods carried on short stalks are soft hairy, light brown when mature. Great in soup with chicken bones. TARO ROOT: Brown, barrel-shaped shaggy tuber. Flavor and texture are like a potato and chestnut combination. You must cook the root with the skins removed before eating. Use it as a vegetable; add to soups and stews, it is best eaten hot. WATER CRESS: Also called Sai-Yeung-Choi. It is a branched, leafy aquatic perennial herb. Stems are procumbent and roots freely at nodes below. Cook in soup with pork. WAXMELON: Also known as hairy melon and Jit-Kua. It is small, cylindrical green fruit somewhat narrow in the center with short silky white hairs. Young ones are consumed. Old ones have little or no wax bloom. It can be eaten raw like cucumber, but more commonly as a cooked vegetable. Peel, slice, and cook in soup. WINTER MELON: Also called Tung-Kua. It is large, ovoid or globes with a waxy surface and has firm white flesh with seeds embedded in the center. Hollow out from one end and peel. Good cooked in soup, or stew with pork or chicken. Also boil them with skin. It is a good beverage for the summer heat. YA PEAR: Medium size, inverted oval shape, thin skin, looks a little rusty, white pulp, small and crispy, juicy, sweet, scented, and small seed. It contains vitamin C. YUCCA ROOT: Also called Cassava, this vegetable is the thickening source for tapioca. Shaped like an elongated sweet potato, it has pink to brown rough skin and dense, softly fibrous white flesh. To prepare, remove the outer bark and pale pink under covering with a knife. |
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