Know your Chinese Cabbage
Know your Chinese Cabbage - Introduction
Chinese cabbage, Brassica rapa, subspecies pekinensis and chinensis, can refer to two distinct varieties (see below) of Chinese leaf vegetables used often in Chinese cuisine.
These vegetables are both related to the Western cabbage, and are of the same species as the common turnip.
Both have many variations in name, spelling, and scientific classification–especially the "pak choi" or chinensis variety, see image above left.
Know your Chinese Cabbage - Varieties
There are two distinctly different groups of Brassica rapa used as leaf vegetables in China, and a wide range of varieties within these two groups. Click on the links to visit articles on each.
Also known as:
Da baicai (lit. "large white vegetable");
Baguio pechay or pechay wombok (Tagalog);
Chinese white cabbage;
Baechu (Korean),
Wongbok and hakusai (Japanese: 白菜)
Also known as:
Bok choy from Cantonese "white vegetable", also spelled bok choi, and pak choy.
Xiao baicai, meaning "small white vegetable" in Mandarin.
Chinese chard.
Chinese mustard.
Celery mustard.
Spoon cabbage.