Isn’t it amazing and wonderful that in the depths of winter, we are able to enjoy so many greens from the produce aisle? With an abundance of choices, it’s nice to expand our “greens horizon” past iceberg lettuce and cabbage, and one of our favorites is bok choi. Have you ever tried it?
Bok choi or pak choi has the texture and crunch of tender cabbage, and a pleasant, slightly peppery flavor. Yet this interesting vegetable is a cousin to the turnip family. Sometimes you might see them called “Chinese cabbage”, but they do not look like the cabbage we are familiar with. The shape of the plant is looser, with the thick white stalks and broad leaves, but does not form a head. Here’s a little factoid: in Cantonese, Bok choi means white vegetable because of the prominent white stems.
While these veggies may have originated in Asia long, long ago, they are now readily obtainable here all year long; and, good news, gardeners, we can even grow these exotic beauties in our gardens! The W.H. Perron catalogue has a variety called “Joi Choi” that reaches maturity in 50 days, and this is how the catalogue describes it: “Pak Choi type, non-bolting hybrid, and productive variety. Vigorous plants of rapid growth, with nice long white stems and dark green foliage. .. This cabbage will do well when cultivated during the summer or under dry conditions.”
The beautiful “Whole Seed Catalogue” has a variety called “Extra Dwarf Pak Choy” that sounds very interesting, and cute! The catalogue says that “this tiny pak choy is picked when just two inches tall. It has dark green, wrinkled leaves with thick, white petioles and can be used whole to make amazing salads and stir-fries!”
I read that we can either start these plants indoors, or direct seed them in the spring. And once the heat of summer has begun to wane, we can start another crop, six to twelve weeks before the first frost in expected. These plants usually do not like heat, so we must aim for either earlier in the summer or later in the summer. They need to be well-watered. And we also must watch out for the flea-beetles. But if you are willing to keep an eye open for this problem, you will be rewarded with a very tasty new vegetable in your garden!
Not only is it a beautiful vegetable, but bok choi is very healthy, too: a one cup serving has only 13 calories, and gives us almost half of our vitamin C for the day.
How to serve it? When you get it home, trim the end from each clump, and wash it well (this is like washing leeks, you have to swish the clump around in a bowl of water so that the water can go between each leaf.) After that, you can either choose to eat it raw by slicing it finely for a salad; you can use it in a stir-fry; or steam it gently for just a few minutes till tender but still a bit crunchy. It has an amazing, vibrant color done this way!
So if you have just been pushing your cart past this section in the produce aisle, put on the brakes and give bok choi a try!
The Yorkton and District Horticultural Society will be holding their first meeting of 2017 on Wednesday, February 15 at 7; 00 p.m. at SIGN on North Street. We look forward to seeing our members, and remember, the garden gate is always open and new members are always welcome! Check out what’s happening on our website, www.yorktonhort.ca
Can you see the slight difference in the length of the days? Hurrah! Have a great week!
