This item
Shanghai Bok Choy
- Stem / stalkShort, thick pale-green stalks
- LeavesRounded to spoon-shaped green leaves
- Flower budsNot listed on this page
Compact, low upright bunch
Vegetables
Shanghai Bok Choy
A compact small bok choy with short, fleshy pale-green stalks and spoon-shaped green leaves.
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3 identity clues
- Compact, low upright bunch
- Short, thick pale-green stalks
- Rounded to spoon-shaped green leaves
Names in other languages
- 繁體中文
- 小棠菜
- English
- Shanghai Bok Choy
- Bahasa Indonesia
- Shanghai bok choy (小棠菜)
- Tagalog
- Pechay Shanghai (小棠菜)
Name in Cantonese (Jyutping): siu2 tong4 coi3 No Cantonese voice on this device
What is it?
Shanghai bok choy is a leafy brassica sold widely in Hong Kong markets. FEHD uses Green Chinese cabbage; this guide keeps that official alias while using the familiar market-facing English name.
How to identify it
Look for a compact upright head, short thick pale-green leaf stalks and rounded spoon-shaped leaves. It does not have the long flowering stems typical of choy sum.
Common confusion
Compare
Choy Sum
- Stem / stalkStems are usually slimmer than Chinese kale
- LeavesLeaves are thinner, narrower and bright green
- Flower budsMature bunches may show small yellow buds
How to identify it
Shanghai bok choy forms a short compact head with thick stalks; choy sum has longer slender stems and may develop yellow flower buds.
Common Hong Kong household uses
Commonly stir-fried, blanched, added to soup or served with noodles.
Choosing & preparing
Separate the outer leaves and rinse soil from the stalk bases and leaf joints. Split larger heads lengthwise and drain before cooking.
Storage
Keep dry in the refrigerator vegetable drawer and use soon. Discard slimy, rotten or strongly off-smelling stalks.
Helper tip
Ask for 小棠菜. Check the short thick stalks and compact head; it is not choy sum.
What Ma’am or Sir may say
買一斤小棠菜，揀細棵嫩啲。The employer wants about one catty of smaller, tender Shanghai bok choy.
Useful market phrase
唔該要一斤細棵小棠菜。Meaning: One catty (斤) of small heads of Shanghai Bok Choy, please.
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Sources (4)
- Hong Kong Food and Environmental Hygiene Department — Public Market Items - Leafy Vegetables
- Hong Kong Food and Environmental Hygiene Department — Leafy vegetables Cantonese pinyin
- Hong Kong Food and Environmental Hygiene Department — Public Market Items Multilingual Booklet
- Philippine Bureau of Agriculture and Fisheries Standards — Philippine National Standard for Pechay