Baby Shanghai Pak Choy

Pak choy is a vegetable which has been cultivated in China for thousands of years. In addition to being widely used in Chinese cuisine, Pak Choy is very popular in other parts of Asia as well. Pak Choy is a very versatile, tender, flavourful vegetable which can be used in a wide assortment of dishes. Pak Choy is also know as Bok Choy, Pak Choi. Pak Choy is also sometimes called “ Chinese cabbage, ” a reference to the fact that it is classified in the Brassica genus, to which cabbages belong. Brassicas are also members of the mustard family, and they have a distinctive tangy, somewhat spicy flavour as a result. Brassica chinensis, as Pak Choy is more formally known, comes in a wide variety of sizes and colours, thanks to the development of specific cultivars. Tender young Pak Choy only needs to be cooked very briefly, and the leaves take even less time to cook than the stems. Most cooks separate leaves and stems, throwing the leaves into a dish at the last minute to lightly wilt them before serving. The stalks can be allowed to cook a bit longer than the leaves, although many people favour a brief cooking time to leave the stalks crunchy and tender, rather than allowing them to soften. Many cooks like to use Pak Choy in stir fries, and it can also be used in soups, curries, spring rolls, and a variety of other dishes. The flavour of Pak Choy is very mild, with a hint of a tangy bite which betrays its place in the mustard family, and this vegetable is also very healthy. It is high in calcium, like other Brassicas, and it also has high levels of vitamins A and C.