Chinese broccoli
Name Variations[]
- Chinese kale
- gai lan
- gai lum
- kai lan
- kai-lan
About Chinese broccoli[]
Wikipedia Article About Chinese broccoli on Wikipedia
Chinese broccoli is more stem and leaves and virtually no floret, as is the traditional broccoli grown in the United States. The plant is a white flowering broccoli, with green leaves and is used widely in Chinese cooking. Also known as Chinese kale and gai lan.
Kai-lan (Simplified Chinese: 芥兰; Traditional Chinese: 芥蘭; Hanyu Pinyin: jièlán, lit. "mustard orchid"), also known as Chinese broccoli or Chinese kale, is a slightly bitter leaf vegetable featuring thick, flat, glossy blue-green leaves with thick stems and a small number of tiny, almost vestigial flower heads similar to those of broccoli. As a group of Brassica oleracea Kai-lan is of the same species of plant as broccoli and kale. Its flavor is very similar to that of broccoli, though not identical, being a bit sweeter.
Kai-lan is eaten widely in Chinese cuisine, and especially in Cantonese cuisine. Common preparations include kai-lan stir-fried with ginger and garlic, and boiled kai-lan served with oyster sauce. Unlike broccoli, where only the flowering parts are normally eaten, with kai-lan the leaves and stems are eaten as well, normally sliced into bits the proper size and shape to be eaten with chopsticks.
The pronunciation kai-lan and its alternate version gai-lan are Cantonese.