How to Grow Choy Sum / Yu Choy by: Sarah 0 Comments Posted:9/29/2023Updated:9/26/2023 Welcome to our How to Grow Chinese Vegetables series: Choy Sum edition! In this post, we’ll talk about how to grow choy sum or cài xīn (菜心), AKA yu choy or yóucài (油菜).We have professional insights from Christina Chan, farmer and owner of Choy Division, a regenerative Asian vegetable and herb farm in the Hudson Valley, who has generously offered to share her expertise with us and our readers for two seasons now.WHAT IS CHOY SUM? Choy sum belongs to the Brassica genus of vegetables, also known as the cabbage family.

It is native to southern China, with some tracing its origins back to Guangdong, China (Canton).People often confuse it with bok choy or Chinese broccoli, but it generally has longer stems that are more cylindrical than bok choy, and they’re more tender than Chinese broccoli.It may also be called “flowering brassica,” as it has distinctive bright yellow flowers.

Yu Choy (油菜) translates to “oil vegetable,” because certain varieties are primarily grown for their seeds to produce oil.Did you know that canola oil is actually refined rapeseed oil? In China, you might see cài zǐ yóu (菜籽油), which is a less refined version.Bottle of Caiziyou (Chinese Rapeseed Oil) Indeed, sometimes you’ll see yu choy being translated in English to “rapeseed.” The vegetable’s other name, choy sum (菜心) transl

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