Buk Choy Centella Centella asiatica Ceylon Spinach Basella alba Chi Qua Choy Sum Brassica rapa var. chinensis Alternate Names: Pennywort, Gota Ceylon spinach is a vigorous Benincasa hispida var. chieh-qua Brassica rapa var. parachinensis Alternate Name: Chinese Chard Cola, Arthritis Plant tropical vine with fleshy leaves. Alternate Name: Hairy Melon Alternate Name: Chinese Flowering Buk choy literally means “white Centella has a long history of use While Ceylon spinach can generally While Chi qua may be unfamiliar to Cabbage vegetable” in Cantonese. Baby buk in traditional remedies for various be used in the same way as many Australians, it is one of the Choy sum and “baby” choy sum choy is a dwarfed variety up to ailments. It grows vigorously in European spinach, it is important staples of the Chinese diet. Chi can be easily distinguished by their 20cm tall and is sometimes called the home garden, and can not to overcook it or it can become quas are distinguished by their bright green oval leaves and yellow “Moonbuk” or “Gongmoon buk become a pest under warm, wet slimy. Only the leaves and young coating of fine hairs and need to be flowers. Its mild flavour, crunchy choy”. It is almost like two conditions. In Vietnam and stems are eaten. Like okra, Ceylon handled carefully, as the hairs can stems and soft leaves make it a vegetables in one, the thick, juicy Thailand, the leaves are crushed spinach has mucilaginous qualities cause skin irritations. Very young good match for many different stems adding an interesting texture and made into a sweetened drink. which can make it useful for chi quas can be eaten raw, but they foods and flavours. Simply wash to a dish while the dark green It can also be added to soups, thickening soups and stews. are more usually cooked. They have and roughly chop the whole bunch leaves add a different consistency stews or eaten raw as part of a a mild, pleasant flavour not unlike then stir fry, steam or add to and flavour. Buk choy is commonly salad. zucchini. They can be peeled, then soups, stews or even curries. steamed, stir fried or boiled in soup. chunks added to soup or sliced and Bunches can be kept for up to a When cooking buk choy, it is best to stir fried or barbequed. They are week in a plastic bag in the fridge. add the stems first as they take particularly good when the seedy longer to cook. Slicing them core is scraped out and the gourd diagonally helps to expose the inner stuffed with pork, prawns or other surfaces which will soak up the flavoursome mixture before baking sauces and flavours in the or steaming. surrounding dish. Coriander Curry Leaves Dong Qua En Choy Amaranthus tricolor Fish plant Houttuynia cordata Coriandrum sativum Murraya koenigii Benincasa hispida Alternate Name: Chinese spinach Alternate Name: Lizard's Tail Alternate Name: Cilantro Curry leaves are generally sold as Alternate Name: Winter melon A mild tasting leafy vegetable. The This is a plant with a truly unique Coriander is a native of southern small stems with dark green tapered Dong quas look somewhat similar commonest variety has colourful flavour and aroma. The small, heart Europe rather than Asia. Widely leaves growing on either side. They to watermelons. They can grow to red and green leaves, but a smaller shaped leaves have a pungent, fishy used in Asian cuisines, it is also are harvested from a small tree be extremely large, weighing up to fully green variety is also sold. It flavour and aroma. In Vietnam they common in South America, India native to India and are mainly used 20kg. Dong quas and chi quas are has a very short storage life, so are commonly included in salads and the Middle East. In America it in Indian and Sri Lankan cuisine. the same species, and both are needs to be kept cold and eaten as and used as an ingredient in rice is usually referred to by its Spanish While the leaves have quite a strong covered with a layer of fine hairs soon as possible after purchase. paper rolls. It is occasionally used name “cilantro”. All parts of the aroma when fresh, this develops when young. However, as the melon Like beetroot, en choy’s bright red to make tea, and is an ingredient in plant are eaten, including the roots, into a rich curry flavour when matures, the hairs are replaced by a colour comes from anti-oxidants a wide range of folk remedies. stems, leaves and seeds. Fresh cooked. They are usually fried in oil white waxy layer, allowing it to be called betalains. These are water leaves lose their flavour and aroma with other spices before being stored for several months with little soluble, so cook lightly to preserve quickly when cooked, dried or added to meat or vegetables. loss of quality. It has a rather bland them as well as retain maximum frozen, and should be used soon Leaves can be frozen for later use, flavour and is mainly used in soups flavour and texture. after purchase due to their short which maintains their flavour better and stews or stuffed with a storage life. Add them at the end of than drying. flavoursome filling and baked. cooking, or use as a fresh garnish on salads, soups or other cooked meals. Fu Qua Gai Choy Brassica juncea var. Gai Lan Galangal Alpinia galanga Garlic Chives Momordica charantia foliosa and rugosa Brassica oleracea var. alboglabra An aromatic rhizome of the ginger Allium tuberosum Alternate Name: Bitter Melon Alternate Names: Chinese Mustard Alternate Name: Chinese Broccoli family, galangal is widely used in Garlic chives are sold as bunches This unique vegetable can be very and Swatow Mustard People may be familiar with gai lan Thai, Vietnamese and Indonesian of either flat, garlic flavoured bitter, a property which appeals to Part of the large and diverse or “Chinese broccoli” from yum cuisines. Young, bright pink pieces leaves, or round, flower bearing many Asian palates, but sometimes mustard family. Leaves can be more cha, where it is served steamed have the best flavour and texture; stems. While the leaves may be less to European Australians. or less crinkled, the thick ribs and with a drizzle of oyster sauce. Gai older rhizomes tend to be woody, used fresh in Vietnamese cuisine, Appearance ranges from white to veins more or less prominent, and lan has been grown in Europe, as making them difficult to cut. It has garlic chives are usually lightly dark green with bumpy to deeply colour ranges from bright to dark well as Asia, for thousands of quite a different flavour to ginger, cooked due to their strong flavour. pointed and ridged skin, and 5 - green. They also vary in flavour, years. The whole plant can be and tends to be harder. As a result, They make a flavoursome addition 30cm long. To reduce its bitterness, mature plants can be extremely eaten; stems, leaves and even it should either be sliced very finely, to noodles, soups, omelettes and cover thin slices with salt before peppery. However, baby gai choy flowers. It is great in a stir fry, ground to a paste, or added to vegetable dishes. The flowering rinsing and cooking. It is often can be eaten fresh and is a added to soup or even steamed and cooked dishes as larger slices and stems are particularly good stir prepared by removing the seeds and delicious way to spice up a salad, served with hollandaise sauce. chunks which can be removed fried, while the leaves are often pith, stuffing with a meat mixture giving it a hot, mustardy bite. before serving. Galangal is an used in Chinese pancakes. and steaming. Sliced it can make an Varieties with thick, fleshy leaf ribs essential ingredient in Tom Yum attractive addition to stir fries and are often preserved by pickling with soups and Thai curry pastes. soups, or can be blanched and used garlic and chilli. Leafier types can Although it dries out quickly at in a spicy salad. be used in stir fries, stews and room temperature, it is also cold soups, and combined with other sensitive, so cannot be stored for strong flavours such as tamarind more than a few days in the fridge. paste or oyster sauce. Ginger Zingiber officinale Gow Gee Lycium barbarum Green Mango Green Papaya Carica papaya Kaffir Lime Citrus hystrix The aromatic rhizomes of ginger Alternate Name: Goji (Berries) Mangifera indica The large torpedo shaped papaya A highly aromatic, tropical citrus, variety is used unripe, its flesh cut have been used to flavour foods A native to China and Japan, gow Green mango is simply an unripe the kaffir lime has glossy double into long shreds and seasoned since the time of Confucius. Very gee grows best in warm to fruit, usually a variety such as Nam leaves which can be used to add a as a salad vegetable. In North East young ginger has thin, golden skin temperate conditions. Many Doc Mai. The flesh is fragrant with wonderful citrus flavour and aroma Thailand and Laos it is pounded and pinkish shoots. This is the type cultivars are quite thorny and can a sweet / sour flavour. A popular to marinades, curries and even of ginger which can be candied, way to prepare the fruit is to add and heavily seasoned with chilli, salads. The grated rind of the small, be trimmed to make a dense and sugar and fish sauce with peanuts, pickled or steeped in water to make impenetrable hedge. Gow gee is herbs, lime juice, fish sauce and knobbly green fruit can be used ginger tea.