Dried bok choy / white cabbage

菜乾

moistens the lungsrelieves drynessclears heatcools internal fire清胃腸熱秋冬燥咳湯水傳統配料

Sun-dried white cabbage (bok choy), sold in twisted dry bundles that must be soaked half an hour or more and rubbed clean of grit before use. Rehydrated and simmered long, it gives autumn soups a deep, savoury-sweet, faintly caramelised vegetable note that fresh cabbage cannot match.

TCM properties

Nature · cooling　Flavour · sweet　Meridians · lung、stomach、large intestine

Traditional food therapy

In Cantonese food therapy dried bok choy is used to moisten the lungs and clear dryness and internal heat — the traditional backbone of autumn dry-season soups.

Cautions — read first

If you run cold and deficient, add ginger and red dates
Roughly made batches can carry grit, dust and pesticide residue, so soak and wash them thoroughly

Preparation

Soak until soft for at least 30 minutes, rub and rinse repeatedly to get the grit out, then cut into lengths.

Origin

廣東（港式白菜乾曬製傳統） — Packaged dried-vegetable lines at Australian Asian grocers, typically produced in China or Hong Kong

Availability in Australia

Common at Asian grocers

Pairs well with

Candied honey date Pork bones (femur / blade)Sweet apricot kernel Bitter apricot kernel Dried cured duck gizzard Pork lung Dried oyster

Soups that use this ingredient · 1

Dried bok choy soup with apricot kernels and pork bonesNot yet surveyed (we say so honestly)

白菜乾南北杏蜜棗豬骨湯(菜乾湯)

moistens the lungsrelieves drynesscools internal fireAutumnWinter

街市Dried bok choy / white cabbage· 75 g (2 taels)百子櫃Sweet apricot kernel· 40 g (1 tael) of 南杏 sweet and 北杏 bitter apricot kernels combined百子櫃Bitter apricot kernel· 40 g (1 tael) of 南杏 sweet and 北杏 bitter apricot kernels combined百子櫃Candied honey date· 3街市Pork bones (femur / blade)· 600 g (1 catty)百子櫃Aged dried tangerine peel· 1 piece… +2

“Heaty? Then this is the pot.”