The lament of the Mustard Greens

On a scale of 1 to 10 I would give myself an 8 in terms of bravery for trying unknown fruits and vegetables. I like them. Scott, on the other hand, is easily scared by an unknown fruit or vegetable, so I decided to let his reactions guide my choice for this week’s task.

Kylie Kwong’s Simple Chinese Cooking is my favourite cookbook at the moment. And Kylie’s pages are a great place to start, especially when I have one of the greatest selections of unknown fruit and veges at my fingertips.

Flipping through the pages I could not go past Stir-fried Cucumber, Black Cloud Ear Fungus and Chilli. The name seems to suggest so much more..Ear Fungus !!! And then throw in black and you have something that could be on a straight-to-video sci-fi. Trying to avoid a reference to cotton buds here!

Scott’s reaction to this suggestion was exactly as I’d hoped - pure horror!

Ok time to boast, my Chinese Vegetable selection at the supermarket spans a 15-metre display! The other side of the aisle is a cascade of tropical fruits from all over Asia. To say the least, it is impressive!

Alas, no fresh Black Cloud Ear Fungus. Why oh why I ask the poor supermarket employee, its Cantonese, Kylie is Cantonese, we are in Hong Kong. The lady made me write it down and she came back with a team of people. After a long long animated discussion in Cantonese the spokesperson announced …. ‘no special fungus ma’am’.

Back to the drawing board – too exotic Kylie!

Take 2

Mustard Greens!

And YUM! Think of the crunch of celery with the panache of Gai Lan. Stir-fried in peanut and sesame oil with lashings of garlic – it was delicious. I was most impressed with this new vegetable. While I reminisce, I lament for the future mustard greens, a daggy looking vegetable with a terribly unimaginative name that bears no resemblance to the taste. It is a vegetable with unleashed potential yet such a harsh exterior. I have decided that Mustard Greens are the Russell Crowe of vegetables!