Bok Choy. This is the original chop suey vegetable! Bok choy or pac choi is an early and late season member of the brassica family - cousin to broccoli and cabbage. Bok Choy is high in calcium, vitamins A, B complex, and C. It is great in stir fry like chop suey, nice steamed with an Asian style dressing like sesame oil, a bit of toasted sesame oil, honey, tahini, rice vinegar, tamari, and pepper with a topping of toasted sesame seeds. We often add bok choy to breakfast soups like miso or clear broth and serve with rice. When cooking, separate the rib from the green as the rib needs a minute or two cooking and the greens only need wilting.
Chinese cabbage. Often called Napa cabbage, Chinese cabbage, like its cousin bok choy does best early and late in the growing season. This is such a versatile vegetable. I often add the outer ribs to soups or stir fry and use the hearts for raw salads. When cooking, I separate the rib from green, and cook as described as above. When using raw, I usually chop thin crosswise rippled ribbons for salad. I tend to use the basic salad dressing described above, but I usually add one or more of the following: grated ginger root, garlic or hot pepper. Chinese cabbage is usually found in egg rolls or spring rolls. Many people use Chinese cabbage in Cole slaw or other European recipes. It is available before most European cabbages, has a very mild flavor, and requires less cooking time than its European cousins.
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