Chinese cabbage

From Free net encyclopedia

Chinese cabbage (Brassica rapa, chinensis group; Template:Zh-cp; Cantonese baak choy) is an East Asian leaf vegetable related to the Western cabbage. They are of the same species as the common turnip. There are many variations on its name, spelling, and Scientific classification. This is a common vegetable used in Chinese cuisine.

1 Varieties
2 Nomenclature
3 See also
4 External links

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Varieties

There are two distinctly different groups of Brassica rapa, and a wide range of varieties within these two groups. The binomial name B. campestris is also used.

The Pekinensis group is the more common of the two, especially outside Asia; names such as da baicai (lit. "large white vegetable"); pe-tsai/pechay (Filipino); Chinese white cabbage; nappa, or napa, cabbage; and hakusai (Japanese) usually refer to members of this group. Pekinensis cabbages have broad green leaves with white petioles, tightly wrapped in a cylindrical formation and usually, but not necessarily, forming a compact head. As the group name indicates, this is particularly popular in northern China around Beijing (Peking), as well as in Japan and Korea. It was introduced to Korea in the 15th century, and to Japan at the beginning of the 20th century.

The Chinensis group was originally classified as its own species under the name B. chinensis by Linnaeus. When used in English, the name bok choy typically refers to Chinensis. Smaller in size, the Mandarin term xiao baicai ("small white vegetable") as well as the descriptive English names Chinese chard, Chinese mustard, celery mustard and spoon cabbage are also employed. Chinensis varieties do not form heads; instead, they have smooth, dark green leaf blades forming a cluster reminiscent of mustard or celery. Chinensis varieties are popular in southern China and South-East Asia.

Commercial variants of Chinensis include:

choy sum (Template:Zh-cpl; also baby bok choy), can refer to either a small, delicate version of bok choy or simply the flowering heart of any Chinese cabbage. It might also refer to the heart of Shanghai bok choy.
Shanghai bok choy (Template:Zh-cp; Japanese: ちんげん菜, chingensai) refers to dark green varieties where the varioles are also green. It's probably the most common vegetable in Shanghai, where it's simply called qingcai ("green vegetable").

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Nomenclature

The Chinese characters 白菜 (bai cai) simply mean "white vegetable", and are used to refer to both groups of B. rapa. The English word bok choy and its variations bok choi and pak choi are all taken from the Cantonese readings of the name of one specific variety of cabbage, namely those with white stems and dark green leaves. In Cantonese, the other varieties of cabbages all have different names which entered the English language as you choy, choy sum, napa (from 黃芽白, Cantonese name for "天津白菜" or "肇菜) and baby bok choy etc. Hence the English word bok choy is not equivalent to the Chinese word bai cai though they are written the same way.