I have a theory about gai lan: It’s so bitter, even bugs stay away from it. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a single bug on any gai lan I’ve purchased. (If they were there, they were camouflaged really well. Of course I washed the gai lan before cooking…bugs are nutritious, right? Right?!?!)

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Rather than tell you again how I like to cook Asian greens, I’m just going to link to another blogger who actually knows what they’re doing when they’re cooking. Jude at Apple Pie, Patis, & Pâté has a a yummy-looking recipe for this vegetable, Simple Stir-Fry: Shanghai Bok Choy.

While I’m not as competent as Jude in the kitchen, I can do one ‘fancy’ trick with this and other similar vegetables.

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I like to keep things simple when I cook yu choy sum, to retain the vegetable’s mild flavor and spinach-taste. I usually stir-fry it with a little oil (vegetable, sesame, or olive), salt, and whole garlic cloves. (You may have noticed I use this cooking method a lot for Asian vegetables. It’s because I’m not a very adventuresome cook, and it just works well for me.) Yu choy sum’s leaves and stalks are thin, so it cooks pretty quickly. Simply cook until the stalks are tender and the leaves wilted.

Another cooking method I’ve read about that sounds delicious is to stir-fry it with a little butter and salt, and squeeze a bit of lemon juice over it at the end.

“Choy sum,” the edible yellow flowers.

I have a confession. Sometimes I eat kimchi straight out of a jar with a fork. I’ve probably offended some of you with this revelation.

You may be thinking, “Kimchi? Why are you eating vegetables marinated in Gods-knows-what? Hasn’t it been buried in the ground to ferment or something weird like that? And it smells like dirty socks. No, Cindy. Just no.”

Or perhaps you’re wondering why I don’t use chopsticks to eat kimchi instead of a fork. Well, not only do I like using chopsticks to eat in Asian restaurants, I also prefer eating with them at home. So there.

Others may be shaking your heads (and turning up your noses, admit it) at store-bought kimchi. You’re thinking something like, “It’s so easy to make. Just grab a head of Napa cabbage, water, coarse salt, garlic, fresh ginger, fish sauce, chili paste or Korean chili powder, green onions, daikon radish, and sugar or honey, and follow this recipe or something similar.” Um yeah, I’ll get right on that.

I can think of one more thing that may offend some people more than what I’ve mentioned.

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