Learn About Asian Vegetables
Buying Asian vegetables can sometimes be confusing – and did you know that some Asian vegetables were called different things in different states? It would be like looking for a carrot and finding it called a pumpkin! The NSW department of Primary Industries has recently renamed all the vegetables so that when you go looking for baby buk choy in your local grocery store or fruit and vegetable market that’s definitely what you find.
Click here to open your guide to Asian Vegetable Names PDF. Reproduced with the permission of the Communications Branch of the NSW Department of Primary Industries.
And once you have made yourself familiar with what they look like, we have provided a few tips on how to cook them below. For more information on Asian Ingredients, check out our A-Z Article.
Baby Pak Choy: Chop and add too your stir-fry at the end. Blanch and serve with cooked mushrooms or seafood.
Chinese broccoli: Stir-fry is the most popular way to prepare it, blanch and then put into cold water right after and it will retain nice green colour.
Chinese Cabbage (Wombok): Use the leaves as wrappers for steamed food parcels, blanch in soups or at to your stir-fry towards the end. You can use in place of European cabbage for a unique flavour for salads and sandwiches. This ingredient is most famous for use in dumplings and spring rolls.
Chi Qua: This is also known as Hairy Melon. Sliced or shredded chi qua is a good addition to a stir-fry.
Gai Choy: This vegetable has a spicy, peppery taste. Stems and leaves can be used in stir-fries stems will need slightly longer to cook.
Kang Kong: Kang Kong is popular in Vietnamese dishes where it is eaten raw in salads or added to soup at the end of cooking. Can also be stir-fried add the leaves last as they will wilt quickly.
Lemon grass: Chop & use to flavour your stir-fry (use at the beginning, like Garlic). Great with chicken or fish stock-based soups, with or without coconut milk. Can also be used in salad dressings and to make a fragrant cup of tea
Sin Qua: You may have heard this called Chinese Okra. Peel off the hard ridges, but the rest of the skin can remain. Sin Qua can be chopped and steamed or stir fried, or grated and included in spring rolls or omelettes.
Snake bean: Snake beans are excellent in salads and stir-fried dishes. They are usually cut into 1-inch lengths before cooking. They are used in a popular Szechwan dish called dry-fried beans, they are deep-fried, drained and then put in a wok and stir-fried with a bit of ginger.
White Radish: This radish is usually cooked rather than eaten raw but could be used in a salad, and it can also be pickled.
