When you think of flavors of the Southwest you may not think of Chinese cabbages, but you should! They have been grown in this region for over a century.  They are one of the many greens easy to cook.  

Chinese Cabbages in the West

Back in the 1800’s, a large number of Chinese fled the poverty of floods and famine in their homeland, and came to the west coast of America. Once here, many of them got work building the railroads that linked the East coast of the US with her western territories – including Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, and California. These early Chinese arrivals wrote back to friends and family and asked them to bring or send some seeds of their favorite foods because the “round eyes” ate strange foods. To make a long story short – we now have many people of Chinese descent across the West and through western Mexico into Guatemala, and some of their foods as well. Incidentally Guatemalan-Chinese food is a true taste experience! 

Other Chinese foods introduced in this manner include:

Jujube Fruit

Garlic Chives

Here’s Savorist Monica discussing her use of Chinese Cabbage on our YouTube channel.

What Is Chinese Cabbage?

Chinese cabbage is a leafy green – close cousin to mustard greens and broccoli, and also a kissing cousin with turnips!

Botany Nerd shares:

Chinese cabbage is Brassica rapa subsp. chinensis, also known as bok choy or pak choi (and others). It’s kissing cousin of turnip is Brassica rapa subsp. rapa, famous in parts of the USA for turnip greens. Some of the more distant cousins are European cabbage Brassica oleracea, broccoli Brassica oleracea var. italica, and mustard greens, Brassica juncea.

Now that you know you have eaten relatives of Chinese cabbage, because I assume all of you reading this have had some broccoli at some point in your life, I hope you will now have a better idea of what it will taste like and some ways to cook this healthy leafy green.

Shopping for Chinese Cabbage and Other Choi

Chinese cabbage is the same as bok choi, pak choi, and tatsoi – just with wrinkly leaves. Various choi are available in supermarkets at virtually all times of year now. You may also find “baby bok choy.” It isn’t a different variety – its just harvested young, and thus tastes even sweeter and cooks quickly too. Tender young choi leaves can even be used in green salads.

Note – Before start preparing your choi for raw or cooked dishes, be sure to wash well. It grows in sandy soil, and dirt loves to get stuck in between the stalks!

Uncle Smokey’s Stir Fry Chinese Cabbage

Uncle Smokey was at Food City shopping for some chilies to roast and spotted some lovely Chinese cabbage, so he decided to buy some for a long favorite dish of his. This stir-fried choi is a quick and easy way to enjoy this leafy green. It cooks in less than 5 minutes.  Good in the summer to keep the heat in the house to a minimum.  

The key to this tasty dish is to separate leafy parts from stalks. You separate the stalks for two reasons. First they take longer to cook, and so the leafy portion would be over-done. Second is that the central part of the leaf can be stringy and tough, so it needs to be cut in smaller pieces.

This is like so many of Uncle Smokey’s recipes – this tends to be vague on exact amounts.  It depends on how hungry he is and if company is coming.  Adjust as needed for the number of folks eating and if it is a one pot meal or a side dish. 

Ingredients

   1 garlic clove, minced 
   6 scallions, chopped 
   1 - 3 head of choi, depending on size and how many are eating
   avocado oil or other high temperature cooking oil
   flavor with choice of salt, soy sauce, chili flakes
   optional: can of bamboo shoots, can of water chestnuts

1: Slice leaves off stalks of choi. Chop stalks into smaller pieces.
Measurements – stalks into 1/2-inch pieces, leaves into 1-inch pieces.

2: Heat the pan and oil, and start the garlic. 

3: Just as it starts to brown, add the cabbage stem pieces. Cook stems for about 2 minutes, until the garlic is fragrant and the stems are lightly softened.

4: Add the scallions, any flavors you desire, and optional water chestnuts, etc. Stir in for about 30 seconds.

5: Add the greens on top of everything and cover.

6: Turn off the heat. Leave the pan on the burner and let everything be.  Let the greens wilt for 2 to 5 minutes. (Propane costs money, so let the heat from the pan finish the cooking.)

7: Serve! Or, if you’re on you own, feel free to eat out of the pan and save dishes.

Other Ways to Cook Chinese Cabbage

You can also roast and grill your choi. We will twist Uncle Smokey’s arms to do this for us, once it’s not so blazingly hot outdoors!  Sign up for the free Substack newsletter so you can stay informed about our latest new recipes. The form is somewhere on each page of our website.

Thanks for reading,

The Savorists 

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The authors of this website have researched the uses and edibility of the materials we discuss, however, humans vary in their ability to tolerate different foods, drinks, and herbs. Individuals consuming flowers, plants, animals or derivatives mentioned in this blog do so entirely at their own risk. The authors on this site cannot be held responsible for any adverse reaction. In case of doubt please consult your medical practitioner.