"Choy" in Chinese, is the generic word for vegetables. The leafy green that Mr. Cool is enjoying above is called "A Choy". I've yet to discover the origin or meaning of the "A" part of this leafy green, but there are some things I can tell you. It's a mild, leafy green, and very similar to romaine. It's a good one to eat raw (though in Chinese cuisine, we do cook most greens, even tender ones like this lettuce type), and clearly...ducks enjoy it as much as humans. Read this over at my Greenish Thumb blog to learn more about A choy! Learn how to grow this delicious fall green in The Chinese Kitchen Garden book.
3 Comments
Ivy S.
8/9/2018 03:11:34 pm
Hello Wendy, enjoyed your blog although I don't have much luck with vegetable gardening. Here is the scoop about A Choy. In Taiwan, Hokkien, a language spoken mainly in southern Fujian province and Taiwan, is the main local dialect. A Choy is a very common vegetable in Taiwan and is pronounced e-a`-ts‘ai with the accent on the second syllable. Supermarkets started labeling it as A Choy (A菜) starting 30 years or so ago for the ease of it and Taiwanese consumers have no problem identifying it. However the sound correlation is probably totally lost to those who do not speak Hokkien.
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AuthorI'm Wendy Kiang-Spray, gardener, home cook, and author of The Chinese Kitchen Garden. Learn more about the book here. Enjoy the blog and be sure to like The Chinese Kitchen Garden Facebook page for notifications when there are new posts. Archives
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