Pak Choi: everything from tending to harvesting

Pak Choi is ideal for quick or Asian cuisine! Here you will learn everything about the origin of cabbage and whether you can still eat pak choi after flowering.

The pak choi (Brassicarapa subsp. chinensis) has a visual resemblance to chard (betavulgaris ssp. vulgaris), which also gave it the name "Chinese chard" in English-speaking countries. As an integral part of Asian cuisine, the main growing areas are predominantly in Asia. In addition, Pak Choi has also been grown on a larger scale in Dutch greenhouses for several years. But you can also find this special vegetable on some fields outdoors.

Pak choi: origin and characteristics

Pak Choi comes from East Asia, where it is traditionally prepared in many dishes and eaten in large quantities. There are larger cultivation areas in Korea, Japan, Taiwan and China. With us it will

asian vegetables only grown for a relatively short time. In German, Pak Choi is also known as Chinese salad, Chinese leaf cabbage or Japanese cabbage. In the Netherlands it is called Paksoi, in English Chinese Chard or Chinese Mustard. Translated, pak choi means "white vegetables".

Depending on the variety, there are forms with white or light green, easily breaking stems, as well as red or green leaves and different growth sizes. The spoon-shaped leaves of the plant form a rounded rosette after a while. Contrary to Chinese cabbage (Brassicarapa ssp. pekinensis) the plants do not form a solid head. The taste of Pak Choi is milder, juicier and more aromatic than that of the related Chinese cabbage, and the typical cabbage taste is completely missing here. In contrast to most other types of cabbage, the Pak Choi is used whole, i.e. the leaves and the juicy, light-colored leaf veins. As a location, the Asian vegetable requires a loose, nutrient-rich soil and mild weather. For growing in pots and window boxes we recommend ours Plantura organic tomato & vegetable soil, which has a compost-rich, loose structure and contains nutrients for the first growth phase.

The flower is at Growing pak choi not exactly welcome, because instead of leaves, an elongated stem with lemon-yellow, cross-shaped flowers develops. The veins of the leaves become woody and hardly any leaves can be harvested. Pak choi is a long-day plant, which means that daylight periods of more than 10 to 14 hours of light cause it to flower. Low temperatures also promote flowering. To prevent this, bolt-resistant varieties are bred and the pak choi is only sown when the length of the day gets shorter again after the end of June, but it is summery warm. Of course, even if your bok choy is blooming, you can still harvest and eat it. The flowers and buds of the pak choi itself are edible, they taste a bit hot and spicy. Alternatively, you can leave the flowers and harvest seeds later. You can find out more about this in the section on multiplying pak choi.

Take care of the pak choi

Pak choi is fairly easy to care for once it is in a good location. However, the plants need a lot of water and should therefore be well mulched and watered regularly in dry summers. Pak Choi needs nutrient-rich soil and plenty of water to grow quickly and produce a good yield. We recommend a primarily organic slow release fertilizer like ours Plantura organic tomato fertilizer. The granules are worked into the surface around the plants and decomposed in the soil by microorganisms. The nutrients released in this way supply the Pak Choi for two months until it is ready for harvest.

Harvesting, storing and preserving Pak Choi

The plants are ready for harvest from August to the end of September. Either you cut off a few leaves gradually and from the outside in or you harvest the whole plant in one fell swoop. Flowering plants can also be harvested, but then they are no longer as tender, but slightly woody on the stem. Whole pak choi plants will keep in the refrigerator for a few days, wrapped moist. If you harvest the plant including its roots, it can also be stored in the cellar for a few weeks. Here the root should be hammered in with sand. You should not freeze pak choi, as it becomes mushy and tastes bland when it is thawed later.

Increase bok choy

Seed-proof varieties of Pak Choi can be propagated even in the garden. For this you need naturally flowering plants. Pak Choi flowers when the young plants have been exposed to low temperatures or when there is more than 10 to 14 hours of daylight. For example, you can sow seeds in May, or grow the young plants outdoors without protection from April. This should allow enough plants to shoot and bloom. The edible flowers are often visited and pollinated by insects. Now the pods with seeds that are typical of cabbage plants form. If you want to get the Pak Choi seeds, you have to wait until the pods are brownish and dry. Now cut off the seeds and let them dry in the house until they rustle. Then the seeds can be freed from the pods if they have not already opened. Stored dry and cool, the round seeds are germinable for about three to five years.

Diseases and Pests on Pak Choi

Pak Choi is considered to be robust and hardly susceptible to disease. the Clubroot however, it can be very hard on the plant. For this reason, cabbage should only be grown at the same location every four to five years. In our garden we could not find any infestation with the Cabbage White observe, even if this butterfly is said to infest this type of cabbage from time to time. flea beetles can give the leaves many small holes, weaken the plant and spoil the appearance. To prevent flea beetles, the soil should always be kept slightly moist, for example by mulching. There are also very fine-meshed nets in specialist shops that protect young plants from infestation by flea beetles and cabbage whites.

Pak Choi: ingredients and uses in the kitchen

In addition to high levels of vitamin B and C, pak choi contains a particularly large number of minerals. Magnesium, calcium, potassium and iron are found in large amounts. As is usual with cabbage, the Asian Pak Choi also contains secondary plant substances such as mustard oils and flavonoids, which have an antimicrobial effect.

Pak Choi can be eaten raw or cooked because it is much easier to digest than other types of cabbage. In the kitchen at home, the fresh Pak Choi plants can be prepared raw in salads. Pak Choi is much more often used as a fried, stewed or steamed side dish for all kinds of dishes. In general, it is prepared in Western cuisine in a similar way to chard or spinach. You should only sauté the Pak Choi for a short time, as it disintegrates very quickly and vitamins are lost. To prevent the many valuable minerals from being released, the Pak Choi should only be blanched if possible.

Pak choi is available in a wide variety of variants and colors, as mini or baby pak choi or with red leaves. Discover the variety and learn about the different ones in our special article Pak choy varieties know.