Greg Who Cooks
Executive Chef
Okay I probably eat more gailan (Chinese broccoli) than most DC members. Lately my gailan doesn't have any florets. In past years my gailan looked like mutated broccoli, really little florets and really big leaves. Most people probably cut off and throw away the broccoli leaves... What I've liked about gailan is that that the leaves are a big part but the florets are there too, kind of an appearance of broccoli and spinach mixed up.
But now all the gailan I see in the markets has no florets. Is it just the season? I swear I've eaten it year in year out for several years, but I've never gotten it without florets. It's still good but I want my gailan florets too!
BTW gailan is similar in taste to broccoli but milder. I either serve it like spinach (buttered and salted) or even better I cook Thai food and serve the main course on a bed of gailan. This is particularly good with Thai curries.
Gailan with small florets:
Gailan with no florets is just leaves. The gailan I used to get had bigger florets than the image above.
Is it just the season? Will they have bigger florets later in the spring and summer? I sure hope so!
But now all the gailan I see in the markets has no florets. Is it just the season? I swear I've eaten it year in year out for several years, but I've never gotten it without florets. It's still good but I want my gailan florets too!
BTW gailan is similar in taste to broccoli but milder. I either serve it like spinach (buttered and salted) or even better I cook Thai food and serve the main course on a bed of gailan. This is particularly good with Thai curries.
Gailan with small florets:
Gailan with no florets is just leaves. The gailan I used to get had bigger florets than the image above.
Is it just the season? Will they have bigger florets later in the spring and summer? I sure hope so!
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