How to cook chinese cabbage

Information for chinese cabbage in our free cooking ingredients collection.

Chinese cabbage

Bok choy and napa are two varieties of Chinese cabbage, a member of the same family as broccoli and Brussels sprouts. Resembling a cross between celery and Swiss chard, bok choy has white, celery-like stalks with dark-green, long, rounded leaves. Napa cabbage is similar in shape and size to romaine lettuce and has white, crisp stalks.

Family - Cruciferae
Scientific name - Brassica campestris L.
Common name - bok choy, napa cabbage

Raw bok choy is high in vitamin A and vitamin C
Raw bok choy is a good source of folate
Napa cabbage is a good source of zinc

Varieties

As many as 33 varieties of Chinese cabbage exist, each with a different name. The two most common varieties are bok choy (var. chinensis) and napa cabbage (var. pekinensis). Bok choy also is known as pak-choi, qing cai, taisai, chongee, and Chinese mustard cabbage. Baby bok choy is a variety that grows to a fraction of the size of regular bok choy and is consumed whole. Among its other names, napa cabbage is sometimes called Chinese cabbage, which adds to the confusion among varieties.

Origin and botanical facts

Native to China and eastern Asia, Chinese cabbages are annual plants that grow best in cool, moist environments. Both bok choy and napa cabbage have been cultivated in China for thousands of years and are popular in that country and in Korea and Japan. Introduced to the United States by Chinese immigrants in the late 19th century, Chinese cabbage is now grown in California, New Jersey, Hawaii, and Florida.

How to cook chinese cabbage

Both bok choy and napa are available throughout the year. Bok choy should have bright, white stalks and fresh green leaves and should show no signs of wilting. Napa heads should be tightly closed and have unblemished leaves. Uncut, unwashed cabbage can be refrigerated in a plastic bag for up to 3 days. Mild-flavored and versatile, both bok choy and napa cabbage can be prepared in the same ways as regular cabbage. They can be used raw in salads or steamed, boiled, braised, stuffed, or stir-fried. Cooking softens the flavor of the leaves and sweetens the flavor of the stalks. Before cooking, the stalks must be sliced crosswise or on the diagonal, and the leaves cut into thick shreds. When stirfrying bok choy, the stems should be cooked a few minutes before adding the more tender leaves. Bok choy and napa cabbage are delicious cooked alone or with meat, poultry, and other vegetables. A mild-flavored soup can be prepared by adding the leaves and stalks to either a chicken or miso broth with scallions and cubes of chicken or tofu. In Korea, kimchee, a spicy dish made from pickled Chinese cabbage, is served at most meals.

• Collards
• Corn
• Cress (watercress)
• Cucumber
• Eggplant
• Fennel
• Garlic
• Ginger
• Horseradish
• Jerusalem artichoke
• Jicama
• Kelp

• Beets
• Bitter melon (balsam pear)
• Broccoli
• Brussels sprouts
• Cabbage
• Carrot
• Cassava
• Cauliflower
• Celeriac
• Celery
• Chayote
• Chicory

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