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I love Chinese food! Not the typical suburban fried “chicken balls” in psychedelic orange sauce but authentic, regional cuisines I learned about while living in Toronto’s original “china town”. We had a hard time finding a restaurant that served my familiar favorites when we moved to Atlanta, so I began growing vegetables I needed to make the food I loved. Soon I learned that many of these vegetables grow well in cool weather and are frost tolerant.
Many of these vegetables are not all that unusual to find in large urban supermarkets but sometimes it is hard to find them fresh and crisp, and often they are not found in rural groceries. Growing them in my garden has given me the opportunity to have access to garden fresh, organic stir-fry ingredients all year around. During the winter I rely on leafy Chinese greens to provide quick meals for my family on busy nights. I keep a pot of brown rice cooked in the fridge to heat up as needed, so all I have to do is run out to the garden, pick a few handfuls of greens and make an easy sauce – dinner is on the table in 15 minutes!
I like to mix flavors and textures of greens, and pick them while they are young and tender. One of my favorites is any kind of mustard. This year I’m growing Da Ping Pu heading mustard from Baker Creek seeds. Because I like to use the leaves while young, they usually don’t get the chance to head up for me. I’ll pick them as a cut and come again green all winter – however, I could grow this green in the spring too, and let it head up because it is really interesting in the garden. The leaves of Da Ping Pu are succulent and not very spicy until mature and headed. They are slightly thick and provide a good texture to a stir-fry.
Pak and Bok chois are a great choice for cool weather growing as white cabbage moths love to make swiss cheese out of their leaves, as they tend to do with most brassicas. In cooler weather, the cabbage moths are gone, and my vegetables are pristine without any extra care! Even though Kuang Futsoi (also from Baker Creek) is listed as being heat and humidity loving, I decided to try it this winter. So far our weather has been very warm, and it has been a great choice this year. The leaves are mild and as with most chois, sweet when sauteed. Their crunchy mature stems at excellent texture when added late in the cooking process.
Canton Bok Choi is a short, “baby” type of Bok choi. Because of it’s size, it matures early and can be picked as a whole little head. It’s beautiful in the garden and holds well there during cooler temperatures.
My favorite Asian vegetable is Tatsoi. I love the flat headed pattern of it’s black green leaves against pale green to white stems. Lately I have seen some landscaping companies utilizing Tatsoi as a winter landscape plant in Atlanta. It’s a great choice because it holds its shape all winter, and becomes sweeter with each frost. Size doesn’t matter to Tatsoi’s edibility. I use the small leaves as great texture to a winter salad, and then pick the whole heads and add to stir-fry.
White pak choi is the most commonly found Asian vegetable in supermarkets. It holds quite well after picking, and keeps well in the garden. I prefer to grow the white stemmed varieties in the winter, and save green stem varieties for spring and summer growing. The thick, sweet leaves are sort of like a very mild Swiss Chard, and the stems are crunch and sweet. The pale white stem is beautiful against the darker green leaves in a cooked dish. Pak Choi lends itself to many variations, not just to Chinese or Asian cooking. It’s nice just sauteed with a bit of garlic as a side dish with any meal, as you might serve spinach.
Here's my basic weekday quick stir-fry meal. This is not a chinese meal, it's my own hybrid of thai and chinese. It feeds two - you can easily double the recipe to feed a family of four.
Cooked brown rice - as much as you need. I prefer short grain brown rice for the pearly texture.
Garden Vegetables:
1 head of tatsoi (medium size) 2 small heads of white stem pac choi 2 handfulls of any baby green leaves from any chinese vegetable including mustards OR one good size head of chinese mustard.
Cut the bottom root end of any full-size vegetable to seperate each stem. Wash everything very well. Do not cut any of the stems off, these are prized!
Heat peanut or canola (any oil with very little flavor) in a saute pan (I don't have a wok). Throw in all stem vegetables and cook for 3 minutes. You can add some garlic in with it once the greens hit the pan (saves the garlic from burning). If you have green onions in the spring, you can add them and start cooking the white parts now. Cook on medium heat.
While the veggies cook, I mix up sauce in a heat proof measuring cup. 1/4 cup water, 1/8th cup tamari sauce, a dribble of sesame oil, 1/4 spoon of Thai roasted red chili paste, a 1/2 teaspoon of something sweet but light in flavor(sugar, honey, agave syrup), a teaspoon of cider vinegar. 2 tablespoons of all natural, crunchy non-hydrogenated peanut butter (cashew is really nice too). I heat this for about 30 seconds in the microwave so that it stirs easily. Then I add 1/2 teaspoon of corn or kudzu starch for thickening. You can dribble a few drops of fresh grated ginger juice into this, or put a sprinkle of ginger powder.
Throw your mustard and greens leaves into the saute pan, and douse it all with your peanut sauce. Stir until thickened. Heat up your rice...and dinner is served!
Music, color and gardening - the three go hand in hand in my Electric Garden. I enjoy gardening organically for 12 months of the year in the South and am garden speaker and educator, retailer and occasionally work as designer. I write about rock'n roll, vintage fashion and of course, gardening.
Posted by joanfav (from Walnut Creek, CA) on January 21, 2008 at 8:24 PM:
Your article is what I have been waiting for. I live in Walnut Creek, CA with dry hot summer & somewhat mild frost free wet winters. Planting cool vegetables makes more sense to a lazy gardener like me. Letting mother nature do the watering when we do get rain. Growing up in an Asian family & being more a custom to sharper tasting vegetables, I am glad there are other choices. Farmer's market or chinatown is not far but home gown always taste better.
...
Posted by girlgroupgirl (from Atlanta, GA) on January 21, 2008 at 10:25 PM:
I hope this has encouraged you to grow some of your familiar childhood vegetables! The differences in the values of vegetables of other cultures fascinates me - tart, sweet, crunch, sharp, bitter , and the textures of leaves and stems...it makes a meal really enjoyable - beyond flavor - a whole experience. Most Americans don't eat food this way, and I think they are really missing something.
If you are having trouble keeping your garden watered in dryer times, think about unglazed Olas. You won't need to put water in them very often if you cap them off to prevent evaporation, and water goes directly to the plant roots. Great for the gardener who wants to reap the rewards without so much effort. Olas should be fairly easy for to you find in California, especially in Mexican Pottery outlets.
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Subject: Great Article
Posted by BronxBoy (from Lawrenceville, GA) on January 21, 2008 at 2:33 PM:
I was wondering about the Tatsoi. A lot f the catalogs say it is similar to spinach. Is it? Or does it have it's own character?
Thanks for the recipes. Asian veggies did not sell well at our fall festival so we overgrew. Mainly Red and White Chois and cabbage. Your recipe will come in handy.
What can you tell us about the large Korean type radishes. A guy at work gave me a couple to plant but he said they really, really stink when you cut them.
BB
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Posted by girlgroupgirl (from Atlanta, GA) on January 21, 2008 at 3:30 PM:
BB, there are several foods that stink when you cut them, although I've not eaten a Korean radish. Most fruits and vegetables with this odor can be cut outside or in a ventilated area and then the smell dissipates after cutting. They used to cut Durian on my street. It stunk to high heaven for about an hour then it was fine. The taste was worth it! I suggest growing a few out yourself as a trial. If you are market growing and have the space and time, I do suggest that every year. Grow a few yourself and see if you like it, if the growth habits are worth your time, resources and space in the future. Try to fix it in several ways and then offer the information to your customers. They will really value that extra special personal touch and your care in quality and taste. I think it will help to make some vegetables more popular at your stand.
Had I known you were overstocked, I would have come and taken some veg off your hands, lol.
Tatsoi is unlike spinach in many ways. It is only like spinach in the leaf color and the fact that it has slight savoy which some spinach do. It has more cabbagey taste, and "melts" more like an asian veg than spinach does when hot. It is really delicious. And it is pretty.
Glynis
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Posted by BronxBoy (from Lawrenceville, GA) on January 22, 2008 at 6:12 AM:
10-4
I will plant them and see how they do
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Subject: Thanks!
Posted by Dea (from Frederick, MD) on January 21, 2008 at 8:50 AM:
Very much enjoyed this article and the recipe. I've always said Bok Choy, so I also learned something new :)
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Posted by Islandshari (from Kwajalein
(Marshall Islands)) on January 21, 2008 at 4:06 PM:
Fascinating Glynis! Thanks for the look into veg from another culture.
Yokwe,
Shari
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Posted by Fitsy (from Hayesville, NC) on January 21, 2008 at 9:42 PM:
Its good to see someone who is excited
about greens! because I am, too!
Thanks for writing about them so delightfully.
Your dinner sounds yummy.
Fitsy
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Posted by darius (from Marion, VA) on January 21, 2008 at 10:44 PM:
Lovely article... makes me hungry! Plus, I'm planning to do something along the lines of Eliot Coleman so I can grow greens here at least some of the winter and your selections and suggestions sound wonderful.
Many of these vegetables are not all that unusual to find in large urban supermarkets but sometimes it is hard to find them fresh and crisp, and often they are not found in rural groceries. Growing them in my garden has given me the opportunity to have access to garden fresh, organic stir-fry ingredients all year around. During the winter I rely on leafy Chinese greens to provide quick meals for my family on busy nights. I keep a pot of brown rice cooked in the fridge to heat up as needed, so all I have to do is run out to the garden, pick a few handfuls of greens and make an easy sauce – dinner is on the table in 15 minutes! 
decided to try it this winter. So far our weather has been very warm, and it has been a great choice this year. The leaves are mild and as with most chois, sweet when sauteed. Their crunchy mature stems at excellent texture when added late in the cooking process. 
My favorite Asian vegetable is 
