vegetablemustardy · sweet-stem · green · watery · mild

Choy sum

The everyday Cantonese green: a sweet hollow stem, a scatter of yellow flowers, and no bitterness worth fighting.

on its own

0.0sour

1.0sweet

1.0savoury

1.0bitter

0.0umami

order · canon first

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

9 pairings for Choy sum.

classic

Blanched and glazed, this is the default steamed-greens order in any Cantonese kitchen.

classic

Thirty seconds in hot oil is enough; the stem is sweet already and does not need long.

common

Warmth against a mild leaf that otherwise reads as slightly watery.

common

Salt and savour on a vegetable mild enough to take a light hand.

common

A finishing drizzle is the standard, since the stem carries no fat of its own.

uncommon

Umami dust against a leaf gentle enough to need the extra savour.

uncommon

Heat wakes up a vegetable that is otherwise the mildest brassica on the cart.

rare

A luxury seafood condiment on the plainest possible green, which is exactly the point of the contrast.

wild

Aged salt umami on a sweet mild stem; not remotely Cantonese, but the sweetness takes it.