This beautiful autumnal fruit is deliciously sweet and tangy, with a moist, pulpy texture. Perfect for growing on the kitchen windowsill to … They aren't really comparable to cabbages or lettuce. Exotic, flavorsome and strange are some words you might use to describe Chinese fruits. But Chinese eat them too! Read More. Squash Soup with Bacon 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. The most common Chinese name shanyao means 'mountain medicine'. 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. To allow us to provide a better and more tailored experience please click "OK", Public Domain/Joscha Feth/Wikimedia Commons. Cooked, these are crisp and succulent. Unusual Edibles to grow in your Garden. They are not a standard food item in most countries, but if you've eaten in Asian restaurants abroad, you've probably eaten them. This is a list of plants that have a culinary role as vegetables. Strange things are eaten in China. Pre-mature chicken egg or Mao Jidan in Chinese is a … Some look quite weird, but they are a very good food. You may be familiar with the beautiful lotus flower, but not with the long, edible stem of the plant, known as the lotus root. Chinese love it for its healthful effects, and you might too. Anaar. The Ugly Vegetables is a fantastic book for many different reasons. Although related to a lychee, the longan is slightly smaller and faintly sweet, lacking the acidic taste of lychees. It reminds one of eating somewhat raw potatoes. 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. It is the root of the lotus plant. Dec 1, 2013 - Explore Vern Rowe's board "EXOTIC FRUITS OF ASIA", followed by 729 people on Pinterest. Do you want to enjoy authentic Chinese food on your trip? It is almost unknown in the Americas and Europe. 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. It is rich in minerals, iodine to help with thyroid function, and antioxidants. Not that weird...but still a "Chinese" vegetable! See more ideas about exotic fruit, fruit, exotic. If you’re interested in growing your own, make sure to include some edibles that you’ve not … It is full of cylinders like the holes of a revolver pistol. "Vegetable" can be used in several senses, including culinary, botanical and legal. Durian. The long vines can grow up to 15 feet and produce delicious tubers all season long. Bitter gourd, also known as bitter melon, is the fruit of a tropical and subtropical vine. It was first introduced into China via India in the 14th century and is consumed while still in its green, unripened stage. For vegetarians/vegans: We will ensure that our tour guides order only the best vegetarian dishes for you during your holiday. Demand for Chinese vegetables has risen dramatically, as Asian-American communities grow and diners seek new taste experiences. They are rich in calcium and vitamin C and are used in stir-fries and added to soups. Like white potatoes, it is delicately flavored, starchy, and is a root. #20 China's weirdest vegetables include seaweed, lotus roots, bitter melon, bamboo, Chinese yams, daikons, yard-long beans, bean sprouts, bok choy, and snow cabbage. 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. It is more commonly pickled than xiaobaicai. It is a vegetable that most Westerners haven't eaten. It also has a unusual crunchy 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. One of the more famous weird foods, fugu is the Japanese pufferfish, filled with a very lethal toxin. If you've eaten something in China you thought were sliced white yams or potatoes, it might have been this. We can design a tour tailored for you. Tainong Seeds Inc. is a family run wholesale seed business that was formed in 1983. View More Replies... ... #18 You'll see them stacked in Chinese markets. Also known as a cinnamon vine, these edible tubers are popular during winter. 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 is sweet, neutral, moist, not dry and not greasy for invigorating Qi and nourishing Yin. It is high in fiber though! These are the ingredients I use 80% of the time, if not every day. When eaten raw, they taste sweet and crunchy; cooking them brings out a rich, nutty flavor. There is such rich vocabulary and description words for the Chinese vegetables they are growing. The plant tends to grow in small, lumpy tubers that can make it difficult to clean. Chinese long string beans are another super-big vegetable. I’ve also listed 3 must-have fresh ingredients, which you can often get at a grocery store. 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. It helps control bad cholesterol levels and strengthens the immune system. 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. BY David K. Israel ... kanji, katakana, Chinese bayberry, or Chinese strawberry) is native to Southeast Asia, mainly China. 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. Usually cooked in stir-fries, it’s a divisive ingredient because of its sharply bitter taste. Jaboticaba. Soybean sprouts are simply sprouted soybean seeds. 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. The plant has an appealingly crunchy texture with a delicately sweet taste. For some reason, some Chinese vegetables grow much bigger than their Western equivalent. 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. Achiote. 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 is a great food. The Chinese culture in this story is also embedded very well, and the soup they create at the end looks and sounds delicious. It also has cancer-fighting and anti-inflammatory properties. A variety of unusually large cabbage that is also very common in China, maybe more common than xiaobaicai, is dabaicai 'big white vegetable'. These very healthy and nutritious vegetables are eaten all over China and are loved for improving people's health. Its normally served up with rice or noodles, or the pupae can be deep fried and served with your choice of … It is a very common Chinese vegetable that is boiled or used for quick stir-fries. 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. We and our partners use cookies to better understand your needs, improve performance and provide you with personalised content and advertisements. Bitter melon is eaten throughout the country as a way to cool down the body, especially during hot summer months. It’s also an extremely versatile ingredient and can be prepared by stir-frying, deep-frying, or simmering in broth. Seaweed is high in iodine, helps prevent goiters and other diseases, and might also prevent cancer. Chinese Side Dish Recipes Learn to make delicious side dishes in Chinese cooking like fried rice, sesame noodles, glazed carrots and more. 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. They grow similar to sweet potatoes but produce much smaller tubers. Questions and comments welcome. 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. Foreigners who travel to China are often shocked by weird things they have never eaten before. But these are getting more and more common in Western supermarkets. View More Replies... ... #19 A Variety of Unique Chinese Vegetables Flowering Chives. Unusual Vegetables. Healthy and fresh soups, stir-fries, salads and slaws offer us an exotic change from our usual American diet. View More Replies... ... #15 One vegetable they grow is most unusual and delicious. 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. You may be familiar with the beautiful lotus flower, but not with the long, edible stem of the plant, known... Chinese Persimmon. 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? People buy them at a market or sprout them at home. So far, the USDA says the seeds are for innocuous flowers, herbs, and vegetables. It is cylindrical root a hole through the center surrounded by eight to ten larger holes. 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. You can see these growing in any stand of bamboo. 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. Chinese flowering leek is another vegetable that goes by a lot of names. Lichi. Even some of the most mundane of vegetables come in surprising colours. It is low in sugar, and good for diabetics. See our recommended Chinese food tours for inspiration: Our tours can be customized. 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. The short answer is, you only need 6 Chinese ingredients to get started cooking delicious Chinese food. 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 skin of the vegetable is a pale white color, and it is tender and easy to chew when properly prepared. 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. Black Sapote (chocolate Pudding Fruit) #14 My friends have a large, productive, backyard food garden in Richmond, B.C. 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). Bamboo shoots are common. By itself, seaweed is usually bland to the taste. However, there are still plenty of uncommon fruits and vegetables out there that have yet to be fully introduced to the American food scene. Black Sapote (chocolate Pudding Fruit). These huge white radishes, or daikons, taste like the little round red radishes you've probably eaten, but they are milder. Six Chinese Restaurant-Style Soup Recipes Though it tastes something like common yam, something in it makes it seem like it has healing or medicinal effects. 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. 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. This versatile ingredient can be simmered, steamed, boiled, or made into delicious pan-fried taro cakes. China is a vast country and the range of fruit the Chinese eat is just as big. Alongside many familiar items, there are several local vegetables to look out for. Some Americans are randomly being sent mysterious envelopes full of unlabeled seeds from China . Langsat. Jicama one of the most unusual vegetables we’ve even seen. It’s said that Chinese will eat anything on the earth. Chinese medicine books say that it acts on the lung, spleen,  and kidney channels. Fuzzy Melon (Mo Qua). It is a good source of vitamins such as A, C, and K to name a few. Chinese Fruits & Vegetables You've Never Heard Of Lotus Root. Jicama are crunchy when eaten raw, or soft like potatoes when cooked or fried. 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. China is home to a wealth of strange and delicious fruits and vegetables that are native to the region. It is rich in minerals, iodine to help with thyroid function, and antioxidants. Maybe you're just bored with the options. 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. Seaweed can be boiled stir fired, or served raw. The raw seaweed is packed with antioxidants. One kind is xiaobaicai (/sshyaoww-beye-tseye/ 'small white vegetable') or bok choy or pak choi in Cantonese. Bean sprouts: These silver-white stalks with their yellow heads and long tails aren’t exactly exotic to most North American diners. A favorite way to prepare it is to serve it raw with vinegar, red pepper, and pungent herbs such as ginger to flavor it. Nutritional value: It is high in protein, minerals, and fiber. But it too has medicinal value. This is just a small taster of the weird and wonderful edibles that you can grow yourself. If you’re planning a trip to a Chinese market, look out for some of the following fruits and veggies. This list includes botanical fruits such as pumpkins, and does not include herbs, spices, cereals and most culinary fruits and culinary nuts. Despite its name, the water chestnut is not a nut; it’s an aquatic vegetable that grows in marshes. 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. 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. The flesh is juicy and crunchy, with just a hint of sweetness. 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). As a tender young vegetable, loofah is indispensable to Chinese and Indian cooking. They can be added to fried noodle and rice dishes, as well as soups. What makes lotus root seem weird to most foreigners is that they've never seen a vegetable that looks like it. It helps to heal asthma and kidney problems. It has a pleasant, robust, and hearty taste and is good for you. 12 Strange, Yet Beautiful Fruits & Vegetables. For the highest vitamin content, eat them raw. 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. This beautiful autumnal fruit is deliciously sweet and tangy, with a moist, pulpy texture. 9. Bamboo stalks may also be eaten, but these make for somewhat drier fare. View More Replies... ... #17 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. Arrowroot: Beets: Golden Beets: Burdock: Cardoon: Carrot: Celeriac: Chinese Artichoke : Diakon: Garlic: Ginger: Horseradish: Jerusalem Artichoke: Onion: Green Onion It is noted for helping to regenerate damaged body tissue. 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". Apart from being eaten directly, persimmons are also prepared as a dried fruit product and eaten as a snack. Chinese usually eat these in stir-fries and soups, but you can also eat them raw in salads. There are two types, a sweeter variant for fresh consumption or juicing and a sour variant, to produce dried fruit. But you can develop a taste for it. View More Replies... ... #16 They taste mostly like the European-American style of green beans, but the flavor is sharper. 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