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May 30, 2006

Food writer and teacher Meera Freeman says Asian greens remain a

mystery to many.Photo: Simon Schluter

Few cooks realise the vast array of Asian vegetables out

there, writes Carolyn Holbrook.

THE summer just past, my dear great-aunt asked me what that

"black thing" in the vegetable compartment of my fridge was. It was

an eggplant. She was helping me out in the kitchen and I asked her

to peel a couple of sweetcorn for dinner. She told me that she

wasn't sure how to peel sweetcorn, because she only ever used

tinned corn.

It's easy to believe you're some kind of snazzy, culinary

sophisticate when you compare yourself to your staunchly

"meat-and-three-veg" great-aunt. But what goes around comes around,

and just because the bulk of baby boomers and their progeny can

tell a zucchini from a Lebanese cucumber doesn't mean we've got the

culinary landscape fully pegged.

Most of us wouldn't be looking so smug if we were asked to fetch

the fish plant from the fridge. Or the pennywort. Or the slippery

vegetable. These three wonderfully named "Asian greens" are readily

available from greengrocers in the Vietnamese hubs of Richmond,

Footscray and Springvale. Yet they're probably as exotic to many

cooks as eggplant and fresh sweetcorn clearly are to my

great-aunt.

There is, of course, a great tradition of vegetables crossing

over geographical and cultural divides. Consider the case of

spinach, (commonly labelled "English spinach" around Melbourne). In

China, where it is much used in stir-fries, the name for spinach is

po choy; choy meaning vegetable and po being the original Cantonese

word for Persia, from where it was introduced more than 1000 years

ago.

Clearly, Australians are growing fonder of, and more familiar

with, the cuisines of Asia. These days, a quickly cobbled-together

stir-fry probably only defers to "spag bol" as young people's

knock-up dinner of choice. Should you audit the wok for Asian

greens, you may find bok choy or Chinese cabbage. Perhaps Chinese

broccoli or flowering cabbage, at a stretch.

Teacher and author Meera Freeman has been educating Melburnians

about Vietnamese and Thai cooking for 16 years. She says that the

bulk of Asian greens remain as mysterious as ever to her students.

"In one of my classes recently, one of my students said, 'I saw a

green thing with long leaves in a shop in Street the other

day, what do you suppose it was?' I mean, it could have been one of

about 50 things. A lot of people still have no idea."

Tony Tan, chef and cookery teacher, agrees that most peoples'

knowledge of Asian greens is limited. "They know about bok choy,

choy sum and wong bok, stuff you might find in the supermarket or a

good greengrocer. But if you look a little further, in the brassica

family alone, there's water spinach, ceylon spinach (slippery

vegetable), amaranth and tonnes more that people don't know

anything about."

Tan and Freeman both lead walking tours along Street,

Richmond, which, among other things, educate participants about the

variety of Asian greens available. Freeman has recently lent her

expertise to a much-needed glossy guide to Asian herbs and

vegetables, published by the Melbourne Market Authority (see below

for details).

While the guide will help, Tan puts a large part of the

responsibility on the shoulders of Asian traders. "I have always

advocated that Asian grocers should help Caucasian shoppers feel

more comfortable about buying these greens. They should be labelled

properly in English, as well as in Asian languages, especially

greens of common usage."

Tan is "fluent" in Eastern and Western cooking and he describes

a salad he often prepares using blanched wedges of stem lettuce

(see guide, opposite) and tomato. He says the stem might need

peeling, like asparagus, depending on the age and toughness of the

plant. "I mix up a dressing with soy sauce, olive oil and a touch

of lemon juice. Sometimes I add five spice and maybe cinnamon." The

salad combines beautifully with fish, pork and chicken.

Tan has often observed Greek women buying bitter-flavoured Asian

greens, such as gai choy (mustard green). "Gai choy would make a

good substitute for bitter vegetables used in Mediterranean cooking

such as rape and radicchio. I've used it with roast duck, because

its bitterness perfectly complements the rich flavour of the duck."

Gai choi would also suit other game.

Teague Ezard, chef and owner of city restaurant ezard, becomes

whimsical and nostalgic when he talks about Asian greens.

"What I love about them is that when they're fried on their own,

they have a lovely, genuine flavour and aroma. They seem to take on

an almost smoky, charry flavour from the wok. Eating Asian greens

reminds me of eating in the street stalls of Asia.

"Asian greens are cheap, quick and have great versatility," he

says. "We use bok choy steamed with flat noodles, and as a garnish

for duck and seafood. We use baby bok choy as a side order with

baby corn and oyster mushrooms, stir-fried with oyster sauce and

garlic infused oil. It has a neutral flavour, which complements

other flavours beautifully."

He also likes to cook with water spinach, which he calls by its

Malaysian name, kangkong. "It has a really unique texture. I cook

it in the wok with XO sauce; it breaks down in sauces and becomes

almost like a noodle in texture."

Apart from their gastronomic virtues, Asian greens are

conspicuously healthy, holding rich deposits of vitamin A, protein,

iron and calcium. Furthermore, tradition attaches specific health

benefits to many Asian greens. If you can stomach its fishy odour,

raw fish plant may ease your stomach cramps. Betel leaves, blended

into a drink, supposedly soothe a fever.

Ultimately, there are two choices. Get out there and get to know

Asian greens. Otherwise, be prepared to incur the derision of your

pretentious, know-it-all niece, years from now. When she asks you

to pickle the swatow mustard green and fold the beef mince inside

the la lot, are you going to say, "Yes dear, right away"? Or will

you just wince in ignominious ignorance?

Tony Tan's walking tours and classes: www.tonytan.com.au or phone 9827

7347.

Meera Freeman's walking tours and classes: www.meerafreeman.com.au or

phone 9348 2221.

The Asian herbs and vegetables guide is at www.marketfresh.com.au

Naming rights

Part of the confusion about Asian greens derives from the fact

that different people call them different things. Names may be in

English, Vietnamese, Thai, Chinese, Indonesian, Malaysian and even

Sinhalese. For instance, water spinach (also called water

convolvulus in English) is kangkong in Malaysian, phak bun in Thai,

rau muong in Vietnamese and ong choi in Chinese.

In time, standard names will presumably emerge. Words in

brackets below are other commonly used names.

Amaranth

Leafy, mild-tasting, spinach-like plant. Leaves can be either

plain green or (more commonly), red-tinged. Use leaves and stems in

stir-fries, or blanched leaves in salad with olive oil

vinaigrette.

Slippery vegetable (ceylon spinach)

Mildly flavoured tropical vine leaf that takes on a slimy

texture (like okra) when cooked. Use in soups, or uncooked in

salads. Rapid stir-frying prevents texture becoming slimy.

Chinese broccoli (gai lan)

Versatile and popular with pale-green stems, dark leaves and

little white flowers; young stems and leaves can be stir-fried,

boiled, steamed and even braised.

Chinese cabbage (wom bok)

Shaped like a tightly packed cos lettuce, it's milder and

sweeter than European cabbage. Use raw in salads (both Asian and

European), or add to stir-fries, soups and braises. Use large

leaves for stuffing.

Chinese flowering cabbage (choy sum)

Looks similar to Chinese broccoli but with small yellow flowers.

Most commonly steamed or lightly boiled and served with oyster

sauce. Can also be stir-fried or sliced into soups.

Chinese celery

Looks like continental parsley but has a striking celery

flavour. Use leaves and stalks in soups and stir-fries. Often added

to Middle-Eastern dishes, with mint and parsley.

Bok choy (Chinese chard)

Use in stir-fries, soups and braises, or blanch and serve with

oyster sauce. Tiny, tender bok choy like you see in Asia are rarely

sold here.

Shanghai bok choy (Shanghai Chinese chard)

Light-green stems and leaves. Like bok choy, use in stir-fries,

braises and soups, or blanch whole and serve with oyster sauce.

Fish plant (fishwort)

Shiny, heart-shaped leaves and a distinct fishy smell. Raw

leaves are used in salads.

Garland chrysanthemum

Use the pretty leaves in stir-fries or soups. Avoid extended

cooking, which gives the leaves an undesirable bitter taste.

Flowering garlic chives

Use these round, flower-bearing stems of the garlic chive plant

in stir-fries, or blanch and dress with oyster (or other) sauce.

The flowers are edible.

Garlic chives

Myriad uses for these long, flat leaves include stir-fries,

noodle dishes and soups. Also used in rice-paper rolls, Chinese

pancakes and omelets.

Betel leaf (la lot)

Shiny, heart-shaped, mild-tasting leaves. Vietnamese wrap

flavoured beef mince in them and grill them over charcoal. Thais

eat them raw, filled with lime, peanuts, chilli, ginger and

coconut.

Bamboo mustard green (gai choy)

Slice into soups or serve alone with oyster sauce. Blanch before

adding to stir-fries if you don't like the strong mustard

flavour.

Swatow mustard green (gai choy)

Crinkly-leaved plant that can be added to soups or long-cooked

dishes. Often pickled and eaten as an accompaniment.

Water spinach (water convolvulus, kangkong)

Thin, tapered, dark-green leaves and hollow stems. Popular in

stir-fries throughout South-East Asia. Can also be added to

soups.

Stem lettuce

Mild flavour of leaves and sweet stems is similar to that of

iceberg lettuce. Most commonly stir-fried, but also added to

soups. Blanched stem suited to salads.

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