I like dwarf choy sum. It grows very easily and tastes great. While I lose leaves to worms and such, they grow so quickly and readily that I always have more than enough.

Yard long beans, I love to eat the bean blossoms too. Whiteflies can be bottersome at times thou.
Emm ...will it grow in your climate zone?

Ankrara's Hobby Corner

Hi there...sorry I haven't responded sooner..

Here is a photo of that dwarf choy sum...is that like a pak choi?

{{gwi:389155}}

I didn't find a good photo of the yard long beans...I didn't realize they were an asian vegetable.

Adam

Yes, that looks about right for dwarf choy sum, although the ones I have can get a bit bigger than that. You can harvest them at any time. Pak choi (aka bok choy) is actually a larger vegetable. Its stalk can grow up to one foot long. Dwarf choy sum, even at its largest, probably won't exceed six inches in height.

I like the looks of those. Sometimes with the larger bok choy, I don't use it all at one meal and it gets a lot of waste.

Thanks,
Adam

Adam-

The picture showing is Not Choy Sum, it is the dwarf pok choy, also chinese people call Shanghei pok choy, and choy sum means the heart of choy...

I still have some yard long bean seeds and some real choy sum seeds and some seeds of what your picture shows, also I have some bitter melon seeds, chinese hairy melon or Winter melon seeds, you name it, I have them and I am going back to NY next Monday and I can get anything you want for you :) write me an email and see what I can do for you!
Have a good day

Rog in AR

Hi Rog :-)

Sorry to take so long to get back to this thread. Thank you for the clarification on the differences between the photo and the larger choy sum. I will send you an email about the seeds...thanks very much for the offer.

Adam

baby corn! Takes about 5 weeks to mature; lends itself to both intensive growing and successive platings. I normally reseed every two weeks thru tthe season. I let one plant from the first planting mature for seed.

I vote for yard long beans and Chinese Okra (Sze gwa or angled luffa gourd). This year was a bad year...way too hot.

Rain1950, you wouldn't happen to have some of the baby corn seeds available for trade?

Hello Adam and Piksi-

I just got back from NY and was sick for the whole week, but I got some new seeds from my mom... some bitter melon seeds, YL beans, Winter melon, choy sum, pak choy and some other seeds, the planting season is over for now, when I have time, I will send you both some seeds...

Besty, Chinese people don't like to call the Chinese Okra Sze Gwa, because it sounds like ( Lost) so they called it Sing Gwa (won) but they are the best tasting to make soup with and stir fry, I don't know if I have any of those... I have a pretty big package of seed from mom :)

I will write you guys direct

Rog

Hi Rog,

I am sorry to hear you were sick. Such a shame at any time, but when on a trip it really is a 'darn' shame. Thank you very much for the offer. Look forward to hearing from you when you feel better..

:-)
adam

Tatsoi is my current fave - a.k.a. Spoon Mustard.

I've found it to require little-to-no special care & it's delish - esp. raw in salads.& it reseeds readily.

& like all mustards I've grown, the abundant (& tasty) blooms are a magnet for beneficial insects - esp. bees = )

FWIW

I like some of the Asian squashes:

Tetsukabuto - a winter squash with very creamy sweet yellow flesh. Got mine from Pine Tree seeds of Maine.

Kikuza - winter squash with tan skina nd round almost like a pumpkin. Also very good. From Baker Creek seeds. I planted this one trying to get a similar squash to one I bought at a farmer's market many years ago. I think it is not exactly the same but close. Nice for baking. LONG vines.
Happy planting
Maryanne in Western Massachusetts

Hello...

Carol I have not developed a taste for mustard yet. Aren't they really strong and pungent tasting? A little spicey?
I wish I did, they are so good for you! :-)

Maryanne thanks for sharing the squash experiences. I am a little finicky about squash. I enjoy Butternut squash and some of the other varieties I tried I haven't liked. I did like spaghetti squash. The Tetsukabuto sounds good.

I guess I have to try to be more adventurous..
[g]

Adam,
Have you tried finishing an Asian soup (like oxtail, or mushroom, or tom yum type) with mustard greens? The soup cuts the strong mustard flavor, at the same time, the mustardy flavor adds a nice dimension to the soup. Just toss in the chopped greens (along w/ green onions) into the soup just before serving, so it will steam and stay bright green, and not overcook.

Another suggestion for easy to grow, problem-free greens: Mizuna.

Hi Honu...

That really sounds great, except I haven't made Asian soup before. You wouldn't happen to have a soup recipe, would you? [g] That would be a great way to get greens..

great suggestion..
Adam

It wasn't until this year that i grew horseradish. The young leaves are excellent! Might try using them in soup next year. Mustards, I either eat in salad or a very quick strir-fry. I can't take the soggy texture of greens that have been boiled.

Hi Adam, I finish almost any soup I make w/ some kind of green. A simple mushroom soup I like when the weather gets cooler has stock made from sauteed onions and garlic, the water from soaking shiitake mushrooms, and some mushroom powder.
Add a couple of star anise, smashed ginger root, cubed winter squash, more garlic, some soy sauce to taste, soaked and softened sliced shiitake mushrooms, and simmer till the squash softens. Some people also like to add raw peanuts to the soap, but you'll have a longer simmer time till the peanuts are tender.
Add in some dried bean curd and simmer a couple more minutes till it softens, then finally toss in chopped mustard greens, green onion, and let this steam just until the cabbage and onion are bright green, garnish with cilantro and serve immediately before the greens overcook and turn dull and mushy.
If you like oxtails, you can use the same ingredients except for the bean curd, but include oxtails with excess fat removed, that have been boiled, rinsed and drained several times, then slow cooked in the stock till tender. Cool the pot, then place in the refrigerator overnight. The fat will rise to the top and form a hard layer. Remove the fat if you want a healthier soup, then reheat, and throw in the mustard greens and green onions just before serving. Garnish w/ cilantro. Serve w/ a dipping sauce of soy and grated ginger.
I have many more recipes. You can email me if you'd like more.

HONU...I just saved that recipe to a file and named it HONU SOUP! [g] Can you use sesame oil to simmer the veggies? It doesn't sound like it takes long. Not sure what oxtails are? Is that some sort of beef parts? I don't have the ingredients to try it right now, but I will try it..

Thanks Honu!

Hi Adam,
No you don't want to call it "honu soup" (see my email)...
I would not simmer in sesame oil, as you would just be wasting your oil. Instead, I would sprinkle some on if you wanted a sesame flavor, just before serving, and only use a very high quality fresh oil -- I like the toasted dark sesame oil -- get the one in the dark glass jar.
Hmm, oxtails are so common in the markets here, I never gave it much thought what it really is... I assume it's the tail bones of the cow? Try looking for it at an Asian Grocer, but we have them at all our markets here.
It's mostly bone, about 2 inches in diameter, and the markets already have these cut up into sections that are ready to toss in the pot. There's lot of fat on it, so I like to trim most of it off, then boil it, drain it, rinse, then repeat that process several times. What you want from it is the marrow that adds lot of flavor to your soup. When I said to scrape off the fat after you refrigerate the soup, be careful that you don't also remove the marrow layer, which will be a brown translucent jelly layer that rises to the top of the soup after refrigeration. This is the good stuff you want to keep.
Hope that helps!

Oxtails are indeed the backbone extended into the tail. It's a very flavorfull meat. I like to sear them first then simmer them; give the broth a darker color.

I found a new favorite this season: Chinese Red Noodle Bean, a type of long bean that grew the entire hot summer and into the fall, while the green ones I always grow are pretty much over the hill after a few harvests; almost like comparing indeterminate and determinate tomatoes.

They grew to 32" - the longest I left on for seeds, and I could harvest them at 24-28" and they were still solid flesh, not getting hollow, like the green ones tend to do. And I only had to pick them every 3 or 4 days, unlike some beans. They have a good flavor, and the red color remains after cooking. A little late starting, but that is true of all long beans I have grown.

Dave

My favorite greens right now are Komatsuna, mustard spinach. (got seeds from Pinetree).
Adam, if you don't like the pungency of mustards, try this one. Actually more like spinach with a hint of mustardy flavor. Excellent raw or quickly stir fried or as a garnish for many hot dishes.

I also love the baby pak choys. So easy to grow and the best stir fry veggie!

This past summer I grew green long beans. They did well in our heat and humidity. Tasted great. Aphids also thought they tasted great and were a daily battle. Dave, I'll definately try the red noodle beans next spring!

Ann, that soup sounds wonderful. I'm going to try it with cubed green papaya in place of winter squash, since I have so much. Green papaya cooks up like a hard squash and absorbs any flavor it's cooked with.
Sweet papaya pickle cubes (bread & butter style with star anise) was a big hit with my family on Thanksgiving!

Hi Treefrog,
Yes, good idea to use cubed green papaya -- that will work well as a replacement for squash in the soup.
Good point about Komatsuna being non-bitter.
Something very similar is choi sum. Sorry, I don't know the American name for it, and have never grown them, because it's so abundant here and cheap to buy at the farmer's market, and the farmer is a friend of mine, and always gives me so many. You can eat the leaves, stems, and yellow flowers, and they have no bitterness at all -- in fact it is really sweet -- so sweet, I just like to steam it lightly and eat it plain with steamed jasmine rice. However others prefer to dip it in some oyster sauce, and often Chinese restaurants will drizzle some oil over it.

i have some ginseng seed. so far, i have not eaten it, but got the original from a thai woman. it has such pretty panicle flowers also, would like to know how to i can send a photo of the plant with the dried seeds on top. i'd love to know more about how to prepare it.

i have some ginseng seed. so far, i have not eaten it, but got the original from a thai woman. it has such pretty panicle flowers also, would like to know how to i can send a photo of the plant with the dried seeds on top. i'd love to know more about how to prepare it.

Hi diana..

I used a website called tiny pic to post photos to the forums here is a link to it:

http://www.tinypic.com/#

Try it, it was very easy. :-)
adam

I love garlic chive and Asian eggplant(long and thin, light purple in color).

I love pak choy but every time I've bought it at the grocery store, it's been either tough and unappetizing or wilted. And unappetizing. Not to mention kind of expensive. So I decided to grow some of my own this year from store-bought seed. They're just little babies now but if they turn out well, I'll broaden my horizons and try some of the varieties from Evergreen or Agrohaitai.

I harvested some of the pak choy today (mentioned in my previous post). Really, they were thinnings, but about 4" tall. I sauteed tofu and garlic, turned off the heat, added sesame oil and the pak choy, and served with rice. It was delicious. The pak choy was a little sweet, but with that "bite".

Hi,

Thanks fliptx...I just sowed some bok choy a few days ago, so I am looking forward to that. I haven't found seed yet for the smaller pak choy. But I will be keeping my eye out for it. Nice to know that growing it and using it fresh while it is young makes a difference.

:-)

prairiemoon2,

Just search this specific forum for the word "source" or "sources". You will find plenty of sources for Asian Seeds.

Thanks violet, I haven't tried that before. :-)

Prariemoon2, I just ordered seeds of different bok choy and Chinese Kale varieties from Evergreen Seeds. I'll post about how they grow and taste when I get them :)

prariemoon2,

Good! In that case, stop by the front page of this forum and check out the FAQ as well...

;)