Asian Leafy Greens: Pak Choy/ 小白菜 (xiǎobáicài), 上海青(shànghăiqīng) & 奶白菜 (nǎibáicài)/ Sawi Putih, Sawi Jepun & Sawi Susu
There are many variety of pak choy and the pic above shows 3 types: white stem pak choy, green stem pak choy, milk pak choy.
Pak choy belongs to the same brassica rapa family: napa cabbage, choi sum, tatsoi etc. Its subspecies is chinensis.
The name of the white stem pak choy and green stem pak choy can be quite confusing. Different areas call it differently. Most people refer to 小白菜 (xiǎobáicài) as all types of pak choy (both white stem and green stem) but 小白菜 (xiǎobáicài) proper is actually the white stem pak choy.
(a) White Stem Pak Choy/小白菜 (xiǎobáicài)/ Sawi Putih
It is literally translated as small white vegetable in Mandarin and white mustard leaf in Malay Language.
It has white stem and dark green leaves. Its stem is crunchier compared to the green stem pak choy.
(b) Green Stem Pak Choy/ Shanghai Pak Choy/ 上海青( shànghăiqīng) / 青江菜(qīngjiāngcài)/ 小青菜(xiǎoqīngcài) / Sawi Jepun
It has different names everywhere. 上海青( shànghăiqīng) means Shanghai green, 青江菜(qīngjiāngcài) means Green River vegetable and小青菜(xiǎoqīngcài) means small green vegetable. It is translated to Japanese mustard leaf in Malay.
It has light green stem and medium green leaves. The stem softens easily in heat.
(c) Milk Pak Choy/ Dwarf Pak Choy/奶白菜 (nǎibáicài)/ Sawi Susu
It is usually called nai pak (Cantonese) or nai bai (Mandarin) locally in Klang Valley. The literal translation of’奶白菜’ is milk white vegetable and ‘sawi susu’ is milk mustard leaf.
The flavour is similar to the white stem pak choy but is sweeter and has less roughage.
How do you call it locally in Klang Valley (Cantonese)?
Gotten the hang of the names? Now here is the confusing part:
Wong Nga Pak= Napa Cabbage (Yellow Shoot White)
Pak choy= White stem pak choy (White Vegetable)
Siu pak choy= Green stem pak choy (Small White Vegetable)
Nai pak= Dwarf pak choy (Milk White)
So what do you call it?
I think it does not matter how accurate the name is. Just follow the name locally… And as long as you manage to communicate and purchase the desired type of pak choy. After all it is the same Brassica Rapa Chinensis subspecies1.
Hmmm
Food for thought… Does it contain the same nutrient profile?
How do you cook it?
I cook it 2 ways: stir fry and boil
1. Stir fry Pak Choy
The easiest, simplest and quickest way is to stir fry with oil, garlic and flavour with salt.
2. Boil Pak Choy
My favourite boiled one is to drizzle it with garlic oyster sauce. You can also add it to soups and put it on the side of the plate for braised meat. It can also be used as a steam boat/ hot pot vegetable.
Pak Choy with Garlic Oyster Sauce
Garlic oyster sauce: Garlic, Oyster sauce, salt, corn starch, water
Korean style namul
Soak it in cold water after boiling to stop the cooking process. Mix it with doenjang, chopped garlic, spring onion, sesame seeds, soy sauce and sesame oil.
Dehydrated Pak Choy
It is also sold in a dehydrated form called ‘鲜干白菜’ or ‘菜干’ for soups.
Reference:
1. Cheng, F., Wu, J., Cai, C. et al. (2016). Genome resequencing and comparative variome analysis in a Brassica rapa and Brassica oleracea collection. Sci Data, 3, 160119.