Baby Bok Choy and Shanghai Green Vegetables

Baby Bok Choy/ Pak Choi / Shanghai Green Vegetables / Green Baby Bok Choy / Siu bok choy /上海菜

Bok Choy (aka; pok choy, pak choi, white cabbage, and siu bok choy) is a member of the Brassica family, which makes it a cousin to cabbage, mustards, and brocoli. Back in the 5th century, Chinsese farmers cultivated a variety of vegetables that became known as Chinese Cabbage of Chinensis, which don’t form the big heads most of us associate with cabbage. Instead they grow big green leaf blades, their stems cinching under the lead and rounding out into pale, bulbous bottoms, much like a cluster of mustard greens. Unlike their peppery cousins, both varieties of bok choy tend to have a slightly sweeter, milder, flavor, with the young Green Shanghai Tips being the most tender.

The curly, dark green leafed variety we have marked as Baby Bok Choy has a stronger flavor than the lighter green shanghai variety, but both are perfect little multitaskers, at home in stir fries, sautees, blanched in a soup, or cut in half and roasted with some oil. Check out some of the recipes linked below if you want culinary inspiration.

Baby Bok Choy is high in Vitamin A, Vitamin C, and Vitamin K.