How do I say edible kale in Chinese?

[Pengyou]

I like to eat this vegetable - it is highly nutritious - but every dictionary I have used gives me words that take me to the ornamental variety, which is not edible.

[skylee]

Consider 芥蘭. See if it is what you want -> http://www.google.com.hk/search?q=%E8%8A%A5%E8%98%AD&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=rGL-UYLUDoiPiAfIzYHIAQ&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAQ&biw=1093&bih=479

[陳德聰]

芥蓝 is as similar to kale as cabbage. The ornamental variety is edible.

[Kobo-Daishi]

芥蓝 is as similar to kale as cabbage. The ornamental variety is edible.

In America, 芥蓝 is also known as Chinese kale and Chinese broccoli, in addition to gai lan.

http://www.google.co...h?tbm=isch&q=芥蘭

http://www.google.co...&q=chinese kale

I did a Wikipedia search for kale.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kale

Then I clicked on the zhongwen link

http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/羽衣甘藍

Apparently, it's 羽衣甘藍. And also 無頭甘藍、海甘藍、葉牡丹.

Also, did a Internet search for kale 菜.

http://www.google.co...m=isch&q=kale 菜

Sort it out for yourselves.

Kobo.

[陳德聰]

Yeah thanks Kobo (not).

You can say 羽衣甘蓝 but at the end of the day, Chinese people do not eat kale the way a lot of people have started to. You likely have to get it imported from Australia or something while in China, which means you don't really need to know what it's called in Chinese if you're looking through produce in a supermarket made for foreigners.

芥蓝 is simply not an appropriate translation, even though it's sometimes called "Chinese kale". It's a different vegetable. You wouldn't say that 芥蓝 is a good way to say "broccoli" just because some people call it "Chinese broccoli", would you?

[Kobo-Daishi]

From the Wikipedia entry for "kale":

Kai-lan, a separate cultivar of Brassica oleracea much used in Chinese cuisine, is somewhat similar to kale in appearance and is occasionally called "kale" in English.

I always only ever heard it called "gai lan", "Chinese broccoli", or "Chinese kale", in that order. Never ever heard it called "kale" alone. Would like a citation, but, no one's asked for one at Wikipedia.

Also from the Wikipedia entry for "kale":

Decorative uses

Ornamental kale in bloom.

Many varieties of kale and cabbage are grown mainly for their ornamental leaves, which are brilliant white, red, pink, lavender, blue or violet in the interior of the rosette. Ornamental kale is as edible as any other variety.^[11]

11 Joy Larkcom (1 June 2003). The Organic Salad Garden. frances lincoln ltd. pp. 30–32. ISBN 978-0-7112-2204-5. Retrieved 30 August 2012.

It appears that ornamental kale is just as edible as any other variety.

Kobo.

[abcdefg]

@Pengyou -- I can't find the same variety of kale in a market in Kunming as I can find near my home in NE Texas. (Don't know for sure about Shenzhen and your home town, but I would guess it's the same situation.)

It has a similar taste, but the leaves are not as large and crinkly as the plant I grew up with. If I ask a vendor in the market what it's called, they sometimes say 芥蓝, even though it looks different from most of the 芥蓝 for sale very nearby. More often, they just say 青菜 with a shrug.

I'm trying to visualize the situation in which you would really have to know the precise name in order to buy it. Can't you just point to it in the market and then afterwards ask what it is locally called?

The common names for vegetables is not an exact science; it's often muddy and unclear; there's no universal agreement.

[skylee]

I didn't know the name of 羽衣甘藍. I have seen them in Europe, and I thought it was interesting that people liked to grow cabbage (椰菜) in their flower beds. They looked good though.

I am confused about 芥蘭 and 芥藍. Can anyone explain? Are they the same thing? The second term is not used at all in Hong Kong.

[陳德聰]

芥蓝 and 芥兰 are the same thing.

[skylee]

So,

Chinese kale = 芥蘭(菜) / 芥藍(菜)

cabbage = 甘藍 / 捲心菜 / 高麗菜 / 椰菜

kale = 羽衣甘藍

Right?

[陳德聰]

That looks right to me.

Though, I had never heard of 芥蓝 referred to as anything but "gai lan" or "Chinese broccoli" before seeing that apparently some people call it "Chinese kale".

[Pengyou]

Wow...good discussion. If I could find it, I would point to it and say 这是什么？ but I cannot find it. Ornamental kale edible? wow...maybe all of that pr in the u.s. about it not being edible was to keep people from eating the plants used in public spaces?

[陳德聰]

The only issue you would have to worry about with eating ornamentals is that they may have been sprayed with something that is fine for plants that you're just going to look at, but you wouldn't want to ingest. Once again, probably gonna need to find an Australian import supermarket for your kale needs.