Bok choy
Brassica rapa subsp. chinensis
A non-heading Chinese cabbage with spoon leaves and crisp petioles. Fast cool-season crop. Same species complex as turnip and napa, different vegetable.
GROW → HARVEST → EAT → DRY → POWDER → CAPSULE → GUMMY — forms are not equivalent. Food first.
Identity
Also called: pak choi, Chinese cabbage (non-heading)
What it is
A non-heading Chinese cabbage with spoon leaves and crisp petioles. Fast cool-season crop. Same species complex as turnip and napa, different vegetable.
Edible portions
- leaves
- stems
Absence of a portion from this list means it is not treated as food here — not that every other part is toxic.
Growing
- Climate. Cool-season annual
- Light. Full sun
- Soil. Rich, moist
- Planting. Direct-sow spring and fall; bolts in heat.
- Harvest. Whole heads or outer leaves.
Preparation and culinary uses
- Stir-fry stems first, leaves last
- Soup
Nutrition and compounds
- Vitamins (qualitative, well-known associations). vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin K — not milligram values.
AAA interpretation Food first. These associations explain why a plant shows up in a nutrient conversation — they are not a supplement shopping list.
Next steps
Sources
- USDA PLANTS Database — taxonomy and range (verify current entries)
- USDA FoodData Central — nutrient profiles for foods (verify current entries; this page does not invent milligrams)
- State cooperative extension growing guides — verify for your region
Honest incompleteness is preferred to fabricated completeness. If a section is missing, no record for it is attached here — not a claim that the plant lacks that characteristic, and not that it was omitted as a secret.
Internal quality class A. Strong page: distinctive plant facts plus practical growing or kitchen use.