Sunday, July 20, 2008

Daily highlight #58: Name this vegetable

After eleven years of being apart, my folks are again in the same city as me. For my mom, that means she now has the right to call my office everyday at 5pm to see if I'd stop by for dinner. As much as I declare time and again that I am busy with work or have other engagements, it inevitably warms my insides to know that she is thinking of me everyday.

Saturday night I dutifully made my way over to their place and mom served up eight homey dishes for the three of us. (Didn't I tell you that this woman is hard to live up to?) Among the familiar were this vegetable dish I've had a hundred times, but still have no idea what it's name is. It's a broad leafed plant with supple flesh and a slightly slimy consistency in the way of okra. Do you know what it is? Please leave a comment for me if you do.

A few dishes among the eight we ate included

smoked lean bacon stir fried with leeks and carrots,

A soy stewed fish with chilies,

and toasted rice flour covered beef slices steamed with green beans.

When dad saw me taking pictures of the food, he said "you know your mom's everyday stuff isn't always the prettiest, but it's pretty tasty. You should take pictures when she is doing a banquet." Before he went further, he was summoned away to help mom season her squash stew, which will no doubt end in mom's complaining of his inefficiencies and lack of good taste buds. :) He has good taste buds alright. He is just not mom. No one can be. She is just one of a kind.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

That looks like Gui Lan, no?

Cathy said...

Thanks for responding.

But I don't believe that's it. What you refer to has a thicker stem and lacks the slim factor... I am also hoping to get the English name for it if possible.

Anonymous said...

Ah ha... Upon a further look, the greens here look to be Yu Choi Sum. The small yellow flowers in your pic tells me that.

Cathy said...

That's actually not it either. I know that one well as it's a common Chinese vegetable. My mom served this the last time with a roomful of Chinese people and no one except her knew what it was... The yellow bits are something she put in and not from the plant. I guess the search continues. I should get the Chinese name from her to give a clue.