Choy sum

Choy sum

What it is

The name means flowering heart, and the plant is cut exactly when the bud stalk bolts — a window of a few days before the stem goes hollow and fibrous. It belongs to the turnip side of the brassicas rather than the cabbage side, which is where the sweetness comes from.

In the kitchen

Ninety seconds is the entire cooking time. Stems in first, leaves and buds ten seconds later, then finish with hot oil poured over sliced garlic — braise it and the buds collapse to mush.

Goes with

Garlic Ginger Oyster sauce Toasted sesame oil Soy sauce Shrimp Rice

Same species

Baek-kimchi Broccoli Brussels sprout Cabbage Cauliflower Cavolo nero

Also used with

XO sauce Lap cheong

Something wrong here, or missing? Tell us