Bok choy (

American English American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of variety (linguistics), varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the Languages of the United States, most widely spoken lan ...

Canadian English Canadian English (CanE, CE, en-CA) encompasses the varieties of English native to Canada. According to the 2016 census, English was the first language of 19.4 million Canadians or 58.1% of the total population; the remainder spoke French ( ...

, and

Australian English Australian English (AusE, AusEng, AuE, AuEng, en-AU) is the set of varieties of the English language native to Australia. It is the country's common language and ''de facto'' national language; while Australia has no official language, Engli ...

), pak choi (

British English British English (BrE, en-GB, or BE) is, according to Lexico, Oxford Dictionaries, "English language, English as used in Great Britain, as distinct from that used elsewhere". More narrowly, it can refer specifically to the English language in ...

) or pok choi (''Brassica rapa'' subsp. ''chinensis'') is a type of

Chinese cabbage Chinese cabbage (''Brassica rapa'', subspecies ''pekinensis'' and ''chinensis'') can refer to two cultivar groups of leaf vegetables often used in Chinese cuisine: the Pekinensis Group (napa cabbage) and the Chinensis Group (bok choy). These ...

, used as food. ''Chinensis'' varieties do not form heads and have green leaf blades with lighter bulbous bottoms instead, forming a cluster reminiscent of

mustard greens ''Brassica juncea'', commonly brown mustard, Chinese mustard, Indian mustard, leaf mustard, Oriental mustard and vegetable mustard, is a species of mustard plant. Cultivar ''Brassica juncea'' cultivars can be divided into four major subgroups ...

. It has a flavor between

spinach Spinach (''Spinacia oleracea'') is a leafy green flowering plant native to central and western Asia. It is of the order Caryophyllales, family Amaranthaceae, subfamily Chenopodioideae. Its leaves are a common edible vegetable consumed either f ...

and

water chestnut Water chestnut may refer to either of two plants (both sometimes used in Chinese cuisine): * The Chinese water chestnut ('' Eleocharis dulcis''), eaten for its crisp corm * The water caltrop The water caltrop is any of three extant species of th ...

s but is slightly sweeter, with a mildly peppery undertone. The green leaves have a stronger flavor than the white bulb. ''Chinensis'' varieties are popular in

southern China South China () is a geographical and cultural region that covers the southernmost part of China. Its precise meaning varies with context. A notable feature of South China in comparison to the rest of China is that most of its citizens are not n ...

East Asia East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South Korea and ...

, and

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

. Being

winter-hardy Hardiness of plants describes their ability to survive adverse growing conditions. It is usually limited to discussions of climatic adversity. Thus a plant's ability to tolerate cold, heat, drought, flooding, or wind are typically considered meas ...

, they are increasingly grown in

Northern Europe The northern region of Europe has several definitions. A restrictive definition may describe Northern Europe as being roughly north of the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, which is about 54th parallel north, 54°N, or may be based on other g ...

. Now considered a subspecies of ''

Brassica rapa ''Brassica rapa'' is a plant species growing in various widely cultivated forms including the turnip (a root vegetable); napa cabbage, bomdong, bok choy, and rapini. ''Brassica rapa'' subsp. ''oleifera'' is an oilseed which has many common n ...

'', this group was originally classified as its own species under the name ''Brassica chinensis'' by

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...

. They are a member of the family of Brassicaceae or Cruciferae, also commonly known as the mustards, the crucifers, or the cabbage family.

Spelling and naming variations

Other than the ambiguous term "Chinese cabbage", the most widely used name in North America for the ''chinensis'' variety is simply ''bok choy'' (

Cantonese Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding are ...

for "white vegetable") or ''siu bok choy'' (

, for "small white vegetable"; as opposed to ''dai bok choy'' meaning "big white vegetable" which refers to the larger

Napa cabbage Napa cabbage (''Brassica rapa'' subsp. ''pekinensis'' or ''Brassica rapa'' Pekinensis Group) is a type of Chinese cabbage originating near the Beijing region of China that is widely used in Asian cuisine#East Asia, East Asian cuisine. Since the ...

). It can also be spelled ''pak choi'', ''bok choi'', and ''pak choy''. In the UK and South Africa, the term ''pak choi'' is used. Less commonly, the descriptive English names ''Chinese chard'', ''Chinese mustard'', ''celery mustard'', and ''spoon cabbage'' are also employed. In Australia, the

New South Wales Department of Primary Industries The New South Wales Department of Primary Industries (DPI) is an agency of the New South Wales Government, responsible for the administration and development for agriculture, fisheries, aquaculture, forestry, and biosecurity in New South Wales. ...

has redefined many transcribed names to refer to specific cultivars. In addition, they have introduced the word ''buk choy'' to refer to a specific kind of cabbage distinct from ''pak choy''. In

Mandarin Chinese Mandarin (; ) is a group of Chinese (Sinitic) dialects that are natively spoken across most of northern and southwestern China. The group includes the Beijing dialect, the basis of the phonology of Standard Chinese, the official language of ...

, the common name is 青菜 ''qing cai'' ("green vegetable") or 小白菜 ''xiao bai cai'' ("small white vegetable"). Although it is simply called 白菜 ''baak choi'' ("white vegetable") in

, the same characters pronounced ''bai cai'' by Mandarin speakers are preferably used as the name for

. What is labelled Bok Choy may come in 2 forms: white bok choy () or Shanghai bok choy (). White bok choy is usually more expensive and has a dark crinkly colored leaves and stem portions that are white and crisp texture that is more suitable to Cantonese style cooking, stir fries, and simple or raw preparations. Shanghai bok choy has greater availability in most American markets, and has mild-tasting spoon-shaped leaves that are lighter green with stems that are jade green instead of white. The texture of Shanghai bok choy is less crisp, and it gets slimy if overcooked, but otherwise can often be substituted for white bok choy.

Culinary use

Bok choi cooks in 2 to 3 minutes by steaming, stir-frying, or simmering in water (8 minutes if steamed whole). The leaves cook more quickly than the stem. It is used in similar ways to other leafy vegetables such as spinach and cabbage. It can also be eaten raw.

Nutritional value

See the table for the nutritional content of bok choy. The raw vegetable is 95% water, 2%

carbohydrates In organic chemistry, a carbohydrate () is a biomolecule consisting of carbon (C), hydrogen (H) and oxygen (O) atoms, usually with a hydrogen–oxygen atom ratio of 2:1 (as in water) and thus with the empirical formula (where ''m'' may or may ...

, 1%

protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including catalysing metabolic reactions, DNA replication, respo ...

and less than 1%

fat In nutrition science, nutrition, biology, and chemistry, fat usually means any ester of fatty acids, or a mixture of such chemical compound, compounds, most commonly those that occur in living beings or in food. The term often refers spec ...

. In a reference serving, raw bok choy provides 54 kilojoules (13 food

calorie The calorie is a unit of energy. For historical reasons, two main definitions of "calorie" are in wide use. The large calorie, food calorie, or kilogram calorie was originally defined as the amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of on ...

s) of

food energy Food energy is chemical energy that animals (including humans) derive from their food to sustain their metabolism, including their muscle, muscular activity. Most animals derive most of their energy from aerobic respiration, namely combining the ...

and is a rich source (20% or more of the

Daily Value The Reference Daily Intake (RDI) used in nutrition labeling on food and dietary supplement products in the U.S. and Canada is the daily intake level of a nutrient that is considered to be sufficient to meet the requirements of 97–98% of health ...

, DV) of

vitamin A Vitamin A is a fat-soluble vitamin and an essential nutrient for humans. It is a group of organic compounds that includes retinol, retinal (also known as retinaldehyde), retinoic acid, and several provitamin A carotenoids (most notably bet ...

(30% DV),

vitamin C Vitamin C (also known as ascorbic acid and ascorbate) is a water-soluble vitamin found in citrus and other fruits and vegetables, also sold as a dietary supplement and as a topical 'serum' ingredient to treat melasma (dark pigment spots) an ...

(54% DV) and

vitamin K Vitamin K refers to structurally similar, fat-soluble vitamers found in foods and marketed as dietary supplements. The human body requires vitamin K for post-synthesis modification of certain proteins that are required for blood coagulation ...

(44% DV), while providing

folate Folate, also known as vitamin B9 and folacin, is one of the B vitamins. Manufactured folic acid, which is converted into folate by the body, is used as a dietary supplement and in food fortification as it is more stable during processing and ...

vitamin B6 Vitamin B6 is one of the B vitamins, and thus an essential nutrient. The term refers to a group of six chemically similar compounds, i.e., "vitamers", which can be interconverted in biological systems. Its active form, pyridoxal 5′-phosphat ...

and

calcium Calcium is a chemical element with the symbol Ca and atomic number 20. As an alkaline earth metal, calcium is a reactive metal that forms a dark oxide-nitride layer when exposed to air. Its physical and chemical properties are most similar to ...

in moderate amounts (10–17% DV).

History

Bok choy evolved in China, where it has been cultivated since the 5th century AD.

Gallery

Young Bok Choy in garden.jpg, Young bok choy plants in garden Bok Choy.JPG, Bok choy Bokchoy.jpg, White bok choy Baby Pak Choi (01).JPG, Shanghai bok choy Pak-ch.jpg, Bok choy plant in side view Bokchoy flower.jpg, Bok choy has yellow flowers Bok choy green kimchi.jpg, Homemade

kimchi ''Kimchi'' (; ko, 김치, gimchi, ), is a traditional Korean side dish of salted and fermented vegetables, such as napa cabbage and Korean radish. A wide selection of seasonings are used, including ''gochugaru'' (Korean chili powder), sprin ...

made from bok choy

References

External links

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q165178 Asian vegetables Brassica Cantonese cuisine Leaf vegetables