Bamboo Mustard Cabbage

Long and thin, this differs from choi sum in the notched leaf edges and blades extending nearly to the stem.

QUALITY: For all, select plants with large, well-formed leaf midribs because this is considered the best part for eating. Pale color suggests tenderness.

COMMENTS: Mustard cabbage has nourished Chinese people and their livestock since before the beginning of recorded agricultural history, Some of the crop is eaten fresh, but most is pickled: salted according to the same principles by which the Germans make sauerkraut from head cabbage, Different salting methods and different varieties of cabbage create a range of Chinese sauerkrauts, from the whole-headed salt-sour cabbage (haam suen choi) of Swattow to the preserved snow cabbage (suet lui hoeng) of Shanghai.