TtoE Taasai as an economical side dish

The other day at the supermarket, I spotted a vegetable in the produce section. It looked enticing, but I didn’t know what it was and passed it up. Today, I thought I’d look out for this deep green brassica and found that there were some small heads of it on the discount cart. I scored a head of タアサイ taasai for 30 yen.

So some searching revealed that this is a leafy vegetable originating in China. The name is a variant on the Cantonese name tatsoi. In English, it’s called a mustard or a variety of bok choy. I told you in 2021 about cooking winter veggies and how I’m amazed at the profusion of domestic varieties compared to my home country, Canada. So here’s one more, taasai.

I stir-fried it in a dash of olive oil with minced ginger and a sprinkling of pepper. It makes a good bento box lunch or dinner side.

If you’re curious about my economical, seasonal, and flavorful cooking, search for TtoE.