Celery cabbage, also known as bok choy or napa cabbage, is a leafy green vegetable commonly used in Chinese and Korean cuisines. It is rich in vitamin C and fiber and can be used in various dishes, including salads, coleslaw, and pickled kimchi. It is thought to have originated in East Asia around AD 500 and is a good source of zinc and iron.
Celery cabbage, also known as bok choy or napa cabbage, is a leafy green vegetable with white, edible stems and stalks commonly used in Chinese and Korean cuisines. Its scientific name is brassica pekinensis and its mandarin name is pe-tsai. Celery cabbage is thought to have a less distinct, but sweeter flavor than regular cabbage, and like tofu, it readily absorbs the flavors of other foods.
The vegetable is thought to have originated in East Asia around AD 500. It does not grow in the wild, but is thought to be a cross between bok choy, another type of cabbage, and turnips. In the United States, it is known as napa cabbage because it was first grown in the Napa Valley of the state of California in the 1970s.
Cabbage leaves are usually chopped into thin strips for fried dishes, but cooks may also cut the leaves and stems into larger pieces depending on the dish. In Korea, celery cabbage is pickled and made into an extremely popular food called kimchi. Korean cuisine also uses raw leaves of celery cabbage as wraps for ground pork or seafood, as a filling for soup dumplings, or for dishes of steamed mixed vegetables.
Celery cabbage can also be prepared Western-style and eaten raw in a salad or thinly sliced for a coleslaw. It can also be used as a milder flavor substitute for other types of cabbage in almost any dish from stuffed cabbage to cabbage soup. Certain compounds in celery cabbage called phytochemicals are thought by some researchers to lower cholesterol. These compounds are also being studied for their reported effects on the female hormone estrogen and its possible use in the fight against breast cancer.
Celery cabbage is rich in vitamin C and fiber and is also considered a good source of zinc and iron. When shopping for kale, people should look for bright green leaves that are tightly packed together without wilting. It can be kept fresh for up to a week when wrapped in newspaper or a plastic bag and refrigerated. Some Asian cuisine cooks cook bamboo steamers with celery leaves so the food doesn’t stick to the bottom. If you include them in a home garden, it’s best to plant the seeds in the summer for a harvest in the fall season, as the plants seem to grow best in a temperate climate.
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