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Chinese Chard
Description:
A pale green, sweet and delicate member of the cabbage family, this is one of the most popular Chinese vegetables, especially in its young form (baby bok choi). It needs careful washing, as there is often sand between the bases of the leaves. It can be blanched, stir fried, eaten on its own or added to soups.
Growing Area:
QLD - Queensland
VIC - Victoria
WA - Western Australia
NSW - New South Wales
SA - South Australia
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Shanghai Chinese Chard
Description:
Select fresh looking bunches with clean, glossy leaves and healthy stems.
Remove tough stalk end and wash leaves and stalks, slice and braise, steam or stir-fry. Use in dishes where you would use cabbage or spinach. The stalks can also be used like asparagus.
Bok choy is a cool weather vegetable which matures quickly with sufficient moisture. They require rich, cool, moist soil conditions.
The Chinese mustard cabbage or bok choy is one of the most ancient vegetables. Botanists cannot determine where it originated because it has been cultivated for thousands of years. It is believed that the Celts brought it to the British Isles, but it was grown in the Far East long before then.
Growing Area:
QLD - Queensland
VIC - Victoria
WA - Western Australia
NSW - New South Wales
SA - South Australia
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Coriander
Botanical Name:
Coriander sativum (Apiaceae)
General Description/History:
Choose coriander with fresh, green leaves with healthy stems and a pungent aroma.
Add fresh leaves to curries and Thai dishes, stews, salads, sauces and use as a garnish.
Coriander grows best in a dry atmosphere, and a good dry summer is required if a reasonable crop is to be obtained. Coriander is an annual crop which grows to 60cm in height.
Cultivated as a medicinal and culinary herb for at least 3000 years, coriander is mentioned in Sanskrit texts, on Egyptian papyri, in “Tales of the Arabian Nights” and in the Bible. Coriander was bought to Northern Europe by the Romans, who, combining it with cumin and vinegar, rubbed it into meat as a preservative. The Chinese once believed it conferred immortality, and in the Middle Ages it was put into love potions as an aphrodisiac. In Indian cooking, the seed is roasted before being ground for use.
Alternative Names:
Chinese: Uen sai
English: coriander or cilantro
Thai: pak chee
Growing Areas:
QLD - Atherton, Brisbane Outer Suburbs, Bundaberg
NSW - North Coast
VIC - Melbourne, Werribee
SA - Adelaide Hills, Adelaide Plains, South East
WA - Perth Metropolitan Outer Areas
NT - Katherine.
Nutritional Value:
A good source of vitamin C.
Storage/Handling:
0°C and 90 -100% relative humidity. Keep covered and away from refrigeration fans.
Consumer Storage:
Store in an airtight plastic bag in the refrigerator crisper.
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Curry Leaf
Botanical Name:
Murraya koenigii
General Description/History:
Dark green tapered leaves growing along a central stem, they have an unmistakable fragrance and are used mainly in South Indian and Sri Lankan dishes. They are usually fried in oil with other spices before adding the other ingredients to the dish.
Alternative Names:
Bahasa: daun kari
English: Indian curry leaves
Hindi: meetha neem
Sri Lanka: karapincha
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Fish Plant
Botanical Name:
Hottuynia cordata
General Description/History:
This plant has a heart shaped leaf with a fishy smell and a slightly sour flavour. Eaten raw as part of a table salad, it is said to ease stomach cramps and to be especially beneficial for women.
Alternative Names:
English: fish plant, fishwort, heart leaf, chameleon plant
Chinese: ji cai
Thai: phak kao thong
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Galangal
Botanical Name:
Alpinia galangal
General Description/History:
Galangal is an aromatic rhizome of the ginger family. It should be bought when pink and fresh. Used widely in South East Asia, it is an essential ingredient in Thai curry pastes and Tom Yam soups. It is used with fish in North Vietnam. To store, wrap in paper towel and keep in a plastic bag. Do not refrigerate as this causes it to blacken and become tough and hard to cut.
Alternative Names:
Bahasa: lengkuas
Chinese: hang dou kou
English: Siamese ginger or galingale
Thai: kha
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Garland Chrysanthemum
Botanical Name:
Chrysanthemum coronarium
General Description/History:
The young leaves may be eaten raw but are more usually stir-fried as a vegetable or used as the leafy ingredient in simple soups. It is frequently an ingredient in Japanese sukyaki and clear soups. Add them to cooked dishes at the last minute, as they become bitter if overcooked. The flowers of these species are dried and infused as an herbal tea.
Alternative Names:
Chinese: tong ho
English: chrysanthemum greens
Japanese: shungiku
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Garlic Chive
Description:
Characterised by their flat, garlic-flavoured leaves, these chives are used as a garnish in Vietnamese rice paper rolls, as an addition to soups and to Thai noodle dishes. They are also an essential element in Chinese chive pancakes and omelettes.
English: Chinese leek, Chinese chives
Chinese: gau choi
Thai: kuichai
Growing Area:
QLD - Atherton, Brisbane Outer Suburbs, Bundaberg
NSW - North Coast
VIC - Melbourne, Werribee
SA - Adelaide Hills, Adelaide Plains
WA - Perth Metropolitan Outer Areas
NT - Katherine.
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Flowering Garlic Chive
Description:
These are the round, flower bearing stems of the garlic chive plant. They are usually added to stir-fries.
English: flowering Chinese leek or flowering Chinese chives,
Chinese: gau choi fah
Growing Area:
QLD - Atherton, Brisbane Outer Suburbs, Bundaberg
NSW - North Coast
VIC - Melbourne, Werribee
SA - Adelaide Hills, Adelaide Plains
WA - Perth Metropolitan Outer Areas
NT - Katherine.
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Ginger
Botanical Name:
Zingiber officinale (Zingiberaceae)
General Description/History:
Select plump, heavy, smooth roots free from soft spots and wrinkles.
Use fresh grated ginger in stir-fry, salads and dips. A good accompaniment to pork, prawns, fish and chicken. Use finely chopped or crushed in marinades. Ginger also accompanies sweet dishes such as fruit fritters, ice cream, cakes and biscuits.
Ginger flowers are generally sterile and rarely set seed. Propagation is from portions of the rhizome, or root. These are known as ‘seed pieces’ and weigh 50-80g and are the size of a golf ball. Ginger requires highly nutritious soil and frequent irrigation. Ginger is planted in September to allow young plants to become established before the onset of hot burning weather in October, November and December. Planting is a mechanised operation, similar to potato planting. By February, the grassy vegetative tops of the ginger plant have reached a height of 1m while under the ground the rhizome (the root like stem) has developed into a large clump of odd-shaped hands.
Ginger originated in the southern provinces of China and in India where it has been used in medicines and food preparation for over 5000 years. Not long before World War 1, some pieces of raw ginger found their way to Buderim then a small farming area 100km north of Brisbane, where the comparatively high rainfall and humidity combined to produce conditions ideal for growing ginger.
Alternative Names:
Bahasa: halia
Chinese: geung
English: ginger
Thai: khing
Growing Areas:
QLD - Buderim, Sunshine Coast, Gympie
NSW - Coastal areas
Nutritional Value:
A good source of dietary fibre and vitamin B1.
Storage/Handling:
15°C and 85 - 95% relative humidity.
Consumer Storage:
Store in a cool, dark, well ventilated place.