Chinese White Cabbage

APPEARANCE: Of the many varieties of baak choi (also spelled “bok choy’), all can generally be identified:

1. By their strikingly two-tone leaves: ivory-white leaf stalks topped by dark green leaves; and
2. By their compressed, clustering growth form.

There are two outstanding exceptions to these rules, both from Shanghai. The first is actually known as “Shanghai baak choi”, although exported produce comes principally from Taiwan these days. It has the typical clustered form, but its leaves and stalks are uniformly light green, The second is called Chinese flat cabbage or tai gu choi. It has the bicoloured leaves but in a different shape.