油菜 (yóucài) · bok choy (small, green-stalked); rape greens

Meanings

1 bok choy (small, green-stalked); rape greens
2 rapeseed; oilseed rape (Brassica napus)

About the ingredient

蔬菜 Vegetables

Small heads of bok choy with plump green stalks, the name used in most of the north. Usually stir-fried plain or with shiitake mushrooms, and sweeter after a winter frost. The word also names the rapeseed plant.

Also called 上海青、青江菜

Used in 2 dishes

油泼面 yóupōmiàn

香菇青菜 xiānggū qīngcài

Characters

Examples

HSK 6

春天田里开满了油菜花。

Chūntiān tián lǐ kāi mǎn le yóucàihuā.

In spring the fields are full of rapeseed flowers.

HSK 6

今晚炒一盘油菜。

Jīnwǎn chǎo yì pán yóucài.

Tonight I'll stir-fry a plate of rape greens.

Tips

culture

Literally 'oil vegetable', grown for the seeds that yield 菜籽油 (cooking oil). Luoping (Yunnan) and Wuyuan (Jiangxi) draw massive spring tourism for their golden 油菜花 fields.

usage

In northern markets and on menus, 油菜 is the small green-stalked bok choy that Shanghai people simply call 青菜. In the south the word more often means the rapeseed plant and its tender greens.