vegetablecrisp · mild-bitter · green · watery · clean

Celtuce

Grown for the thick pale stem, not the leaves on top, and peeled down to a crisp cool core before it ever touches a wok.

on its own

0.0sour

1.0sweet

0.0savoury

1.0bitter

0.0umami

order · canon first

1 of these 9 are wild — theory says yes, nobody has cooked them. why →

9 pairings for Celtuce.

classic

Sliced thin and dressed cold, toasted fat is the simplest and most common treatment.

classic

A fast stir-fry with garlic is the hot version of the same idea.

common

Heat and fat against a stem that is otherwise just crunch and faint bitterness.

common

Salt against a mild vegetable that carries almost no savour of its own.

common

A cold salad leans on malt acid the way cucumber salads do further south.

uncommon

Numbing tingle over a crisp mild stem, the standard cold-dish treatment.

uncommon

Stir-fried with shredded pork, the stem stays crisp while the meat carries the savour.

rare

A raw, thinly sliced version dressed cold and green reads closer to a Western salad than a Chinese side.

wild

Aged salt umami on a very mild crisp stem, not traditional but close to celery with cheese.