Bok choy (

American English American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of variety (linguistics), varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the Languages of the United States, most widely spoken lan ...

Canadian English Canadian English (CanE, CE, en-CA) encompasses the varieties of English native to Canada. According to the 2016 census, English was the first language of 19.4 million Canadians or 58.1% of the total population; the remainder spoke French ( ...

, and

Australian English Australian English (AusE, AusEng, AuE, AuEng, en-AU) is the set of varieties of the English language native to Australia. It is the country's common language and ''de facto'' national language; while Australia has no official language, Engli ...

), pak choi ( British English) or pok choi (''Brassica rapa'' subsp. ''chinensis'') is a type of Chinese cabbage, used as food. ''Chinensis'' varieties do not form heads and have green leaf blades with lighter bulbous bottoms instead, forming a cluster reminiscent of mustard greens. It has a flavor between

spinach Spinach (''Spinacia oleracea'') is a leafy green flowering plant native to central and western Asia. It is of the order Caryophyllales, family Amaranthaceae, subfamily Chenopodioideae. Its leaves are a common edible vegetable consumed either f ...

and

water chestnut Water chestnut may refer to either of two plants (both sometimes used in Chinese cuisine): * The Chinese water chestnut ('' Eleocharis dulcis''), eaten for its crisp corm * The water caltrop The water caltrop is any of three extant species of th ...

s but is slightly sweeter, with a mildly peppery undertone. The green leaves have a stronger flavor than the white bulb. ''Chinensis'' varieties are popular in southern China, East Asia, and Southeast Asia. Being

winter-hardy Hardiness of plants describes their ability to survive adverse growing conditions. It is usually limited to discussions of climatic adversity. Thus a plant's ability to tolerate cold, heat, drought, flooding, or wind are typically considered meas ...

, they are increasingly grown in

Northern Europe The northern region of Europe has several definitions. A restrictive definition may describe Northern Europe as being roughly north of the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, which is about 54th parallel north, 54°N, or may be based on other g ...

. Now considered a subspecies of '' Brassica rapa'', this group was originally classified as its own species under the name ''Brassica chinensis'' by Carl Linnaeus. They are a member of the family of Brassicaceae or Cruciferae, also commonly known as the mustards, the crucifers, or the cabbage family.

Spelling and naming variations

Other than the ambiguous term "Chinese cabbage", the most widely used name in North America for the ''chinensis'' variety is simply ''bok choy'' ( Cantonese for "white vegetable") or ''siu bok choy'' ( Cantonese, for "small white vegetable"; as opposed to ''dai bok choy'' meaning "big white vegetable" which refers to the larger Napa cabbage). It can also be spelled ''pak choi'', ''bok choi'', and ''pak choy''. In the UK and South Africa, the term ''pak choi'' is used. Less commonly, the descriptive English names ''Chinese chard'', ''Chinese mustard'', ''celery mustard'', and ''spoon cabbage'' are also employed. In Australia, the New South Wales Department of Primary Industries has redefined many transcribed names to refer to specific cultivars. In addition, they have introduced the word ''buk choy'' to refer to a specific kind of cabbage distinct from ''pak choy''. In Mandarin Chinese, the common name is 青菜 ''qing cai'' ("green vegetable") or 小白菜 ''xiao bai cai'' ("small white vegetable"). Although it is simply called 白菜 ''baak choi'' ("white vegetable") in Cantonese, the same characters pronounced ''bai cai'' by Mandarin speakers are preferably used as the name for Napa cabbage. What is labelled Bok Choy may come in 2 forms: white bok choy () or Shanghai bok choy (). White bok choy is usually more expensive and has a dark crinkly colored leaves and stem portions that are white and crisp texture that is more suitable to Cantonese style cooking, stir fries, and simple or raw preparations. Shanghai bok choy has greater availability in most American markets, and has mild-tasting spoon-shaped leaves that are lighter green with stems that are jade green instead of white. The texture of Shanghai bok choy is less crisp, and it gets slimy if overcooked, but otherwise can often be substituted for white bok choy.

Culinary use

Bok choi cooks in 2 to 3 minutes by steaming, stir-frying, or simmering in water (8 minutes if steamed whole). The leaves cook more quickly than the stem. It is used in similar ways to other leafy vegetables such as spinach and cabbage. It can also be eaten raw.

Nutritional value

See the table for the nutritional content of bok choy. The raw vegetable is 95% water, 2%

carbohydrates In organic chemistry, a carbohydrate () is a biomolecule consisting of carbon (C), hydrogen (H) and oxygen (O) atoms, usually with a hydrogen–oxygen atom ratio of 2:1 (as in water) and thus with the empirical formula (where ''m'' may or may ...

, 1% protein and less than 1% fat. In a reference serving, raw bok choy provides 54 kilojoules (13 food

calorie The calorie is a unit of energy. For historical reasons, two main definitions of "calorie" are in wide use. The large calorie, food calorie, or kilogram calorie was originally defined as the amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of on ...

s) of food energy and is a rich source (20% or more of the Daily Value, DV) of vitamin A (30% DV), vitamin C (54% DV) and vitamin K (44% DV), while providing folate, vitamin B6 and calcium in moderate amounts (10–17% DV).

History

Bok choy evolved in China, where it has been cultivated since the 5th century AD.

Gallery

Young Bok Choy in garden.jpg, Young bok choy plants in garden Bok Choy.JPG, Bok choy Bokchoy.jpg, White bok choy Baby Pak Choi (01).JPG, Shanghai bok choy Pak-ch.jpg, Bok choy plant in side view Bokchoy flower.jpg, Bok choy has yellow flowers Bok choy green kimchi.jpg, Homemade kimchi made from bok choy

References

External links

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q165178 Asian vegetables Brassica Cantonese cuisine Leaf vegetables