In Malay language ‘kobis panjang’ means long cabbage; in Chinese language, ‘大白菜’ means big white vegetable). In Cantonese language ’黄芽白’(Wong Nga Pak) literally means yellow sprout white.
It belongs to the brassica rapa family which includes pak choy, choy sum, tatsoi etc. Its subspecies is Pekinensis. It is also referred as Chinese Cabbage although there are 2 main types of Chinese cabbage e.g. pak choy (white vegetable) and napa cabbage (big white vegetable). There is a suggestion that napa cabbage originates from a natural cross between pak choy and turnip1.
If you come across ones with small black dots, there is nothing to worry. It is safe to eat. It is known as ‘pepper spots’ and is due to a combination of environmental and genetic factor causing a cosmetic defect2. I have tried fermenting the pepper spot ones to make kimchi and there are no issue at all.
How do you consume it?
Raw, fermented, boiled, stir fried, steam…
Raw
Bossam (Korean Boiled Lettuce Wrap). It is salted and used to wrap meat.
Fermented
Stir fried
Boiled
Pork Dumpling filling.
Reference
1. Sadowski, J., & Kole, C. (2011). Genetics, genomics and breeding of vegetable brassicas. Enfield: Science Publishers.