I love the vegetable section in Asian grocery stores because there are so many greens to choose from, especially when I’m tired of kale and chard. Bean sprouts: These silver-white stalks with their yellow heads and long tails aren’t exactly exotic to most North American diners. They are crunchier when cooked. Anaar. Alongside many familiar items, there are several local vegetables to look out for. It is more commonly pickled than xiaobaicai. Bamboo stalks may also be eaten, but these make for somewhat drier fare. Strange things are eaten in China. What makes lotus root seem weird to most foreigners is that they've never seen a vegetable that looks like it. It is a vegetable that most Westerners haven't eaten. One vegetable they grow is most unusual and delicious. The long vines can grow up to 15 feet and produce delicious tubers all season long. But Chinese eat them too! Some Americans are randomly being sent mysterious envelopes full of unlabeled seeds from China . This beautiful autumnal fruit is deliciously sweet and tangy, with a moist, pulpy texture. It is also known as snow cabbage or napa cabbage, and it is sold in big piles in the markets and very commonly eaten in soups, hotpots, and stir-fried. Questions and comments welcome. The plant tends to grow in small, lumpy tubers that can make it difficult to clean. It’s also an extremely versatile ingredient and can be prepared by stir-frying, deep-frying, or simmering in broth. Though it tastes something like common yam, something in it makes it seem like it has healing or medicinal effects. So far, the USDA says the seeds are for innocuous flowers, herbs, and vegetables. Seaweed is high in iodine, helps prevent goiters and other diseases, and might also prevent cancer. But it too has medicinal value. For the highest vitamin content, eat them raw. Chinese Fruits & Vegetables You've Never Heard Of Lotus Root. Black Sapote (chocolate Pudding Fruit) #14 However, there are still plenty of uncommon fruits and vegetables out there that have yet to be fully introduced to the American food scene. Healthy and fresh soups, stir-fries, salads and slaws offer us an exotic change from our usual American diet. These very healthy and nutritious vegetables are eaten all over China and are loved for improving people's health. "Vegetable" can be used in several senses, including culinary, botanical and legal. People buy them at a market or sprout them at home. We and our partners use cookies to better understand your needs, improve performance and provide you with personalised content and advertisements. It is low in sugar, and good for diabetics. One of the more famous weird foods, fugu is the Japanese pufferfish, filled with a very lethal toxin. Read More. It has a pleasant, robust, and hearty taste and is good for you. Foreigners who travel to China are often shocked by weird things they have never eaten before. It is the root of the lotus plant. The Ugly Vegetables is a fantastic book for many different reasons. For vegetarians/vegans: We will ensure that our tour guides order only the best vegetarian dishes for you during your holiday. It is noted for helping to regenerate damaged body tissue. The most common Chinese name shanyao means 'mountain medicine'. It is sweet, neutral, moist, not dry and not greasy for invigorating Qi and nourishing Yin. You may be familiar with the beautiful lotus flower, but not with the long, edible stem of the plant, known as the lotus root. A favorite way to prepare it is to serve it raw with vinegar, red pepper, and pungent herbs such as ginger to flavor it. It is unusual for Chinese people to eat vegetables raw, and even those we may associate with salads such as lettuce or cucumber are far more likely to come to you boiled or fried than fresh and crisp. See more ideas about exotic fruit, fruit, exotic. A Variety of Unique Chinese Vegetables Flowering Chives. Bamboo shoots are common. View More Replies... ... #19 Langsat. Jaboticaba. Exotic, flavorsome and strange are some words you might use to describe Chinese fruits. Durian. It is high in fiber though! But for those who haven’t cooked a lot with Asian greens, the produce aisle might be a bit overwhelming, especially since the greens can go by multiple names. Fuzzy Melon (Mo Qua). In terms of texture, it’s quite similar to a potato, but with a much more complex flavor profile: nutty, moist, and slightly fishy, with the faintest hint of sweetness. View More Replies... ... #18 China is a vast country and the range of fruit the Chinese eat is just as big. Demand for Chinese vegetables has risen dramatically, as Asian-American communities grow and diners seek new taste experiences. Weird Stuff | March 16, 2020 Top 10 Disgusting Foods The Chinese Eat [DISTURBING] ... Chinese-style silkworms are added to stir-fry with your favorite vegetables, soy sauce, and seasonings. BAKER CREEK HEIRLOOM SEEDS AMERICA'S TOP SOURCE FOR PURE HEIRLOOM SEEDS We apologize, but until further notice, the Village, Seed store, Restaurants and phones will be closed. Even if you don't have bamboo growing in your country, you probably know it is useful for fishing poles and as a building material. It helps to heal asthma and kidney problems. A variety of unusually large cabbage that is also very common in China, maybe more common than xiaobaicai, is dabaicai 'big white vegetable'. View More Replies... ... #15 Chinese love it for its healthful effects, and you might too. While it may look a bit like a clown's toupee, the Rambutan is a medium-sized tropical fruit that is native to Indonesia, Malaysia, The Philippines, Sri Lanka and other Southeast Asian countries. It also has cancer-fighting and anti-inflammatory properties. They taste mostly like the European-American style of green beans, but the flavor is sharper. Even some of the most mundane of vegetables come in surprising colours. The plant has an appealingly crunchy texture with a delicately sweet taste. Differences Between Authentic Chinese Food and Chinese Food Overseas, 15 Interesting Facts on Chinese Food You Probably Won't Know, What Chinese People Eat for Lunch - The Top 10 Meals in China, What the Chinese Eat for Breakfast - 10 Popular Local Breakfasts, 12-Day Beijing, Xi'an, Chengdu, Guilin, and Hong Kong Cuisine tour, The Top 10 Vegetarian Dishes in China You Should Try, The Top 10 Vegetables Eaten in China...and How To Eat Them, The 10 Strangest Exotic Fruits Commonly Eaten in China, Unusual Ingredients in Chinese Cooking Which May Shock You. If you've eaten something in China you thought were sliced white yams or potatoes, it might have been this. Seaweed can be boiled stir fired, or served raw. View More Replies... ... #17 This list includes botanical fruits such as pumpkins, and does not include herbs, spices, cereals and most culinary fruits and culinary nuts. But these are getting more and more common in Western supermarkets. The truth is, the world is full of edible, healthy and flavorful roots, stems and leaves, the vast majority of which you've probably never tasted. By itself, seaweed is usually bland to the taste. When eaten raw, they taste sweet and crunchy; cooking them brings out a rich, nutty flavor. Taro is a root vegetable with a rough, brownish skin and a light purple flesh within. As a tender young vegetable, loofah is indispensable to Chinese and Indian cooking. These are the ingredients I use 80% of the time, if not every day. The white flesh of the yam can be eaten either cooked or raw, and it is also credited with regulating sleep and strengthening digestion in traditional Chinese medicine. You'll see them stacked in Chinese markets. This green vegetable is reminiscent of a wrinkled old cucumber, but once you taste it, you'll find it distinctively bitter. This very long, white, straight root looks like hairy sticks, and foreigners living here might call them "meter-long roots". It can be eaten raw or cooked and is used in soups and stir-fries, as well as the dim sum dish known as turnip cake. The crosne, often called the Chinese artichoke or knotroot, is a root vegetable originating in China. As that name suggests, the Chinese flowering leek has a similar taste to a chive, but tends to be more garlicky (although not as much as actual garlic). As with bamboo shoots and some other Chinese vegetables, one may wonder why eat it at all since it has such a slight taste and isn't filling. All Seasons Salad is a 'cut-and-come-again' mix of various Chinese leaves, Iceberg lettuces and Radicchio and Frisee leaves. You won't probably have eaten most these ten vegetables if you live in North or South America, Europe or in a lot of other countries, but once you try them, you might find they taste great and are good for you... or you might not like some of these at all. We started out extremely small and have grown significantly in the past 30 years, but it has remained our vision to provide the highest quality vegetable & fruit seeds to commercial growers worldwide. If you’re planning a trip to a Chinese market, look out for some of the following fruits and veggies. To allow us to provide a better and more tailored experience please click "OK", Public Domain/Joscha Feth/Wikimedia Commons. Usually cooked in stir-fries, it’s a divisive ingredient because of its sharply bitter taste. I’ve also listed 3 must-have fresh ingredients, which you can often get at a grocery store. The fruit of a tree native to Southeast Asia, these small, juicy fruits are called ‘longan,’ or ‘dragon eyes,’ because of its resemblance to an eyeball — a whitish, translucent flesh encasing a small black seed. Chinese love it and eat 20 or so varieties of seaweed. Dec 1, 2013 - Explore Vern Rowe's board "EXOTIC FRUITS OF ASIA", followed by 729 people on Pinterest. See our recommended Chinese food tours for inspiration: Our tours can be customized. Asian Vegetable Seeds Cooking with Asian vegetables has been gaining popularity as we learn about and experience the exotic tastes that Chinese and Japanese vegetables bring to our plate. The Chinese culture in this story is also embedded very well, and the soup they create at the end looks and sounds delicious. The raw seaweed is packed with antioxidants. Chinese eat some of these vegetables during meals for their medicinal and health improving effects, and you might want to use these to get more fit and healthier. Nutritional value: It is high in protein, minerals, and fiber. Lichi. A member of the radish family, this light, crunchy vegetable has a sweet and slightly peppery taste and is also known by its Japanese name, daikon. So named because its cross-section resembles a five-pointed star, this attractive-looking tropical fruit is native to Southeast Asia and is also popular in China, especially during the summer months. Chinese medicine books say that it acts on the lung, spleen,  and kidney channels. Arrowroot: Beets: Golden Beets: Burdock: Cardoon: Carrot: Celeriac: Chinese Artichoke : Diakon: Garlic: Ginger: Horseradish: Jerusalem Artichoke: Onion: Green Onion Weird Vegetables You've Probably Never Heard Of (PHOTOS) From Mother Nature Network's Bryan Nelson: Think you don't like to eat your veggies? A popular method of preparation is to blanch and then cook the vegetable in oyster sauce, but as with any other dark leafy green, choy sum is also good steamed, stir-fried, or sautéed. We can design a tour tailored for you. They can be added to fried noodle and rice dishes, as well as soups. China's weirdest vegetables include seaweed, lotus roots, bitter melon, bamboo, Chinese yams, daikons, yard-long beans, bean sprouts, bok choy, and snow cabbage. It is rich in minerals, iodine to help with thyroid function, and antioxidants. Lychee While you may be accustomed to the canned variety of this berry—a member of the soapberry family native to southern China—the fresh kind is harder to find. For some reason, some Chinese vegetables grow much bigger than their Western equivalent. They are rich in vitamins A, B, and C. Chinese love to eat green leafy things that also haven't traditionally been eaten in the colder latitudes of Europe and North America. These huge white radishes, or daikons, taste like the little round red radishes you've probably eaten, but they are milder. There is such rich vocabulary and description words for the Chinese vegetables they are growing. The short answer is, you only need 6 Chinese ingredients to get started cooking delicious Chinese food. It is a great food. BY David K. Israel ... kanji, katakana, Chinese bayberry, or Chinese strawberry) is native to Southeast Asia, mainly China. It is low in calories. Many people, especially those who live inland areas and kids, might cringe when they first try to eat slippery, rubbery seaweed. Chinese usually eat these in stir-fries and soups, but you can also eat them raw in salads. This wonderful yam-like root is often served in Chinese restaurants. Commonly known as the Chinese bayberry, and the Chinese strawberry (among other names), the spiky red fruit has the tart-sweet duality of most berries, with an edible skin and a pit in the center. 12 Strange, Yet Beautiful Fruits & Vegetables. It helps control bad cholesterol levels and strengthens the immune system. Despite its name, the water chestnut is not a nut; it’s an aquatic vegetable that grows in marshes. Jicama one of the most unusual vegetables we’ve even seen. Cooked, these are crisp and succulent. It is cylindrical root a hole through the center surrounded by eight to ten larger holes. Bitter gourd, also known as bitter melon, is the fruit of a tropical and subtropical vine. They aren't really comparable to cabbages or lettuce. This is a list of plants that have a culinary role as vegetables. Step into a Chinese kitchen, and you might spot groceries such as lotus root, winter radish, and water chestnuts waiting to be transformed into a tasty dinner. Photo by Holly A. Heyser. Do you want to enjoy authentic Chinese food on your trip? Unusual Edibles to grow in your Garden. It is a good source of vitamins such as A, C, and K to name a few. View More Replies... ... #16 Bitter melon is eaten throughout the country as a way to cool down the body, especially during hot summer months. But you can develop a taste for it. Perfect for growing on the kitchen windowsill to … Achiote. It also has a unusual crunchy texture. Squash Soup with Bacon Like white potatoes, it is delicately flavored, starchy, and is a root. They are a small, crunchy tuber called crosnes — pronounced like the old woman — Chinese artichokes or betony (there’s a wild relative of this plant that grows in Florida). Here collected are 10 exotic Chinese snacks you are afraid to eat. It is full of cylinders like the holes of a revolver pistol. 1. This versatile ingredient can be simmered, steamed, boiled, or made into delicious pan-fried taro cakes. Also known as a cinnamon vine, these edible tubers are popular during winter. You can see these growing in any stand of bamboo. #20 The skin of the vegetable is a pale white color, and it is tender and easy to chew when properly prepared. Pre-mature chicken egg or Mao Jidan in Chinese is a … Most people from other countries find these to be unusual because they are very big, sometimes three feet long, and they look like huge white carrots. My friends have a large, productive, backyard food garden in Richmond, B.C. This beautiful autumnal fruit is deliciously sweet and tangy, with a moist, pulpy texture. Apart from being eaten directly, persimmons are also prepared as a dried fruit product and eaten as a snack. Unlike common white potatoes or yams, it isn't something to be eaten every day just like you'd probably not want to eat bitter melon every day. Jicama are crunchy when eaten raw, or soft like potatoes when cooked or fried. Soybean sprouts are simply sprouted soybean seeds. They are rich in calcium and vitamin C and are used in stir-fries and added to soups. You may be familiar with the beautiful lotus flower, but not with the long, edible stem of the plant, known... Chinese Persimmon. There are two types, a sweeter variant for fresh consumption or juicing and a sour variant, to produce dried fruit. They are not a standard food item in most countries, but if you've eaten in Asian restaurants abroad, you've probably eaten them. They grow similar to sweet potatoes but produce much smaller tubers. The flesh is juicy and crunchy, with just a hint of sweetness. Tainong Seeds Inc. is a family run wholesale seed business that was formed in 1983. Chinese flowering leek is another vegetable that goes by a lot of names. 9. Six Chinese Restaurant-Style Soup Recipes It reminds one of eating somewhat raw potatoes. It is almost unknown in the Americas and Europe. It is rich in minerals, iodine to help with thyroid function, and antioxidants. Chinese long string beans are another super-big vegetable. Black Sapote (chocolate Pudding Fruit). It and close look-alike relatives such as yóucài (油菜 'oily vegetable') are some of the of the most frequently used kinds vegetables in the country. It’s said that Chinese will eat anything on the earth. One particularly common one is garlic chives, which goes a long way in explaining the vegetable and what it is used for. Chinese vegetables fit perfectly into healthy vegetable-based diets and are increasingly available in local supermarkets. Its normally served up with rice or noodles, or the pupae can be deep fried and served with your choice of … If you’re interested in growing your own, make sure to include some edibles that you’ve not … This is just a small taster of the weird and wonderful edibles that you can grow yourself. Not that weird...but still a "Chinese" vegetable! Although related to a lychee, the longan is slightly smaller and faintly sweet, lacking the acidic taste of lychees. Some look quite weird, but they are a very good food. China is home to a wealth of strange and delicious fruits and vegetables that are native to the region. It was first introduced into China via India in the 14th century and is consumed while still in its green, unripened stage. Unusual Vegetables. Maybe you're just bored with the options. One kind is xiaobaicai (/sshyaoww-beye-tseye/ 'small white vegetable') or bok choy or pak choi in Cantonese. Chinese Side Dish Recipes Learn to make delicious side dishes in Chinese cooking like fried rice, sesame noodles, glazed carrots and more. It is anti-malarial, anti-cancer, anti-viral, great for your heart, good for people with diabetes, and allegedly good for the slowing of Alzheimer’s. It is a very common Chinese vegetable that is boiled or used for quick stir-fries. Good food and might also prevent cancer pleasant, robust, and consumed. A sweeter variant for fresh consumption or juicing and a sour variant, to produce dried fruit and... To eat China and are used in stir-fries and soups, but they are a very food! Kind is xiaobaicai ( /sshyaoww-beye-tseye/ 'small white vegetable ' ) or bok choy or pak choi in Cantonese offer. 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It was first introduced into China via India in the Americas and Europe is most unusual and delicious fruits veggies! Quick stir-fries and Radicchio and Frisee leaves that can make it difficult to clean indispensable to Chinese and cooking...