Bok Choy, Pak Choi

Also Baak Choi, Chinese White Cabbage, Chinese Mustard Cabbage, White Celery Mustard, Taisai

Of the myriad members of the Crucifer family (cabbages, radishes, turnips, mustards, cress) that distinguish the cuisine of China (where half of the pound of fresh vegetables consumed per capita each day comes from this group), bok choy is among the mildest, most versatile, and prettiest. Long a best-seller throughout the Orient and Asia, it has recently become a regular item in many North American markets, much as Chinese cabbage did a while earlier—which brings us at once to a problem. Both Brassica varieties, chinensis (bok choy) and pekinensis (Chinese cabbage) are commonly called Chinese cabbage—as are a number of their other relatives. I suggest that you give up on names and become familiar with the appearance of each, lest you request one kind and wind up with a shopping bag filled with green leafy things that are all called Chinese cabbage in one market or another.