Name: Chinese mustard greens (Brassica juncea), known as gai choy in Cantonese and jie cai in Mandarin — broad, pale to dark green leaves with a pungent, peppery, slightly bitter flavour. Types include big-stem mustard and curly-leaf mustard. A separate page covers mustard greens in general.
Description
Mustard greens are native to central and eastern Asia, and are among the oldest cultivated greens in China, and have also been used in India and Japan for thousands of years. They are the same species as brown mustard, grown for its seed, but varieties for leaves and stems were bred for tender, tangy leaves.
Chinese mustard greens are often pickled, fermented or salted, as in Chinese pickled mustard greens (suan cai) and Japanese takana, since the sharp flavour softens and becomes tangy. Fresh, they are cooked in soups, stir-fries and braises, where the bitterness mellows.
Main nutrition value
Chinese mustard greens are rich in vitamin K, vitamin C, vitamin A and folate, and contain glucosinolates that give the peppery taste.
How best to be consumed
Chinese mustard greens are best cooked or pickled, to soften their bite.
- Simmer in soups with pork or tofu, where the flavour mellows.
- Stir-fry with garlic and ginger, after a short blanch to reduce bitterness.
- Pickle or ferment them, as in suan cai and Asian pickled greens.
- Braise with ham, pork belly or shiitake mushrooms.
- Wash well, since the thick stalks can hold grit.
Overconsumption could cause…
Chinese mustard greens are safe in food amounts.
- Possible effects on warfarin and similar blood-thinning medicines because of the high vitamin K content, so keep intake steady rather than avoiding them.
- Bloating and gas, since cruciferous vegetables contain raffinose and other fermentable carbohydrates.
- Possible effects on thyroid function in people with an underactive thyroid or iodine deficiency if very large amounts are eaten raw, since brassicas contain goitrogens; normal cooked servings are fine.
- A lot of salt if eaten mostly as pickled mustard greens.
Wikipedia — Brassica juncea, used for origin, naming and history: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brassica_juncea
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