Sounds like ong choy (water spinach or swamp cabbage) - which is a common vegetable in Chinese restaurants here, often served with ham ha sauce. It does NOT have the bitter/peppery bite of real watercress.
Here's a recipe and picture:
http://onokinegrindz.typepad.com/ono_kine_grindz/2004/11/kangkong_blacha.html

Here is a link that might be useful: ong choi

Thanks, Honu. That may be the answer. I will try to confirm it.

Jim

Honu,

Googling on your suggestions, I quickly found lots of references, recipes, etc. for ong choi. Here is the list of synonyms I have accumulated:

ong choi (Cantonese)

kangkong (Malaysian)

morning glory

water convulvus

water spinach

swamp cabbage

rau muong (Vietnamese)

kong sin tsai

hollow heart spinach

Chinese watercress

Note that convulvulus is a large, diverse family of plants which includes the morning glory flower and sweet potato.

Thanks again.

Jim

You're welcome, jimster. What is the name of this good restaurant in Boston Chinatown (we will be visiting soon)?

It's the Grand Chau Chow on Beech Street. Hope you enjoy it. Have a nice dish of ong choi. :-)

Boston's China Town restaurants feature seafood more than any other China Town I've visited. Many have large tanks to hold live fish, shrimp and crabs.

Jim

Here is a link that might be useful: Grand Chau Chow

jimster,

If you have Asian grocery stores, just look in their produce sections and you should be able to find ong choy aka kang kong. Chinese will call it ong choy.

You can eat all the leaves and break the stem at the point where it turns from tender to tough and eat the tender part. It is most commonly prepared with spicy bean curd because it is general consensus that it's so good this way.

Good advice, Violet.

Thanks.

Jim