Chinese broccoli

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Name Variations

 * Chinese kale
 * gai lan
 * gai lum
 * kai lan
 * kai-lan

About Chinese broccoli
Wikipedia Article About Chinese broccoli on Wikipedia

Kai-lan (Simplified Chinese: 芥兰; Traditional Chinese: 芥蘭; Hanyu Pinyin: jièlán, lit. "mustard orchid"), also known as Chinese broccoli or Chinese kale, is a slightly bitter leaf vegetable featuring thick, flat, glossy blue-green leaves with thick stems and a small number of tiny, almost vestigial 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.