Kai-lan
From Freepedia
| Kai-lan | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Image:Gailan.jpg gailan from supermarket | ||||||||||||||
| Scientific classification | ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| Cultivar Group | ||||||||||||||
|
Brassica oleracea Alboglabra Group |
Kai-lan (Simplified Chinese: 芥兰; Traditional Chinese: 芥蘭; pinyin: jièlán), also known as Chinese broccoli or Chinese kale, is a leaf vegetable featuring thick, flat, glossy blue-green leaves with thick stems and a small number of tiny, almost vestigal flower heads similar to those of broccoli. As a group of Brassica oleracea Kai-lan is of the same species of plant as broccoli and kale. Its flavor is very similar to that of broccoli, though not identical, being a bit sweeter.
Kai-lan is eaten widely in Chinese cuisine, and especially in Cantonese cuisine. Common preparations include kai-lan stir-fried with ginger and garlic, and boiled kai-lan served with oyster sauce. Unlike broccoli, where only the flowering parts are normally eaten, with kai-lan the leaves and stems are eaten as well, normally sliced into bits the proper size and shape to be eaten with chopsticks.
The pronunciation kai-lan and its alternate version gai-lan are Cantonese.
